House Made of Paper
by aly.co
Summary: Basically a continuation of season 4, if season 4 was slightly different. Emily and Naomi are back together, Cook and Katie are living with them. Everything is perfect. Or so it seems. Written from the POV of Emily, Naomi, Katie and Cook
1. Chapter 1

**So since I have been taking advantage of everyone's wonderful stories, I thought it was time I took a shot at it as well. I haven't done much writing before so sorry if it's crap.**

**Basically starts off right after Naomi's confession in Freddie's shed at the end of season 4. There are some differences though:**

**-Cook didn't escape jail, he did his time and was released.**

**-Effy stopped seeing Dr. Foster,**

**-Therefore, Freddie wasn't killed,**

**-Therefore, Cook never went after Foster.**

**Basically it's my version of what happens after season 4, if season 4 was slightly different. I've got a few ideas of why I'm but but if anyone has anything in particular that they want to see happen then let me know and I'll try to work it in to it somehow. It will be written from the perspectives of Emily, Naomi, Katie and Cook, changing every chapter or so.**

**Sorry to keep crapping on, but just a little side note, I'm Australian, so I'm not heaps up with all the British slang. I'm pretty much just going to write the way I speak, coz I don't want to end up sounding like a tosser, like most people do when they try to sound overly-British.**

**Hope you and enjoy. Please review (though not too harshly, this is my first fic after all)**

**Chapter 1**

**Naomi:**

I don't think there has ever been a kiss and hug that revealed true emotion quite like the one me and Emily had shared after I made my confession in the shed. It was pure honesty. Pure forgiveness. Pure love.

It felt so good to have the love of my life back in my arms again. It had been so long since I had held her like that. Months… I hadn't hugged or kissed her like that since the night before she found out about me and Sophia – the day she had moved in with me.

We continued to hug each other tight for a few moments, savouring the feel of our bodies against each other. We didn't say anything. We didn't need to. I had said everything I needed to in my little speech and Emily said what she needed to in the way she kissed me and wrapped her arms tight around my neck. I knew we would probably have to talk things over sooner or later, but for now I was going to enjoy having the girl of my dreams back in my arms, at our friend's birthday party.

I felt Cook's arms wrap around both of us, shouting in our ears how happy he was for us and pressing a couple of shot glasses in to our hands. I smiled at him, looked at Emily and the three of us downed our shots at the same time. Cook gave a little cheer, before moving along to get more alcohol, this time to share with Freddie, Effy and Karen.

Katie called Emily over to her, where she had all the grog placed out on a little table. Emily grabbed my hand and dragged me over to where her twin was, pouring herself a drink and offering me one. I thought about it for a moment, before declining. I had been drinking too much lately. I didn't want to be like that anymore. I didn't have a reason to be like that anymore… Beside, I wanted to remember tonight. I wanted to be able to feel tonight, exactly as it was, without alcohol messing with my thoughts and emotions.

We continued to party for a few hours, the people around us getting drunker and higher as the night went on. I stuck to soft drink, only having a shot every now and then, not enough to get me drunk. I wasn't even tempted to accept a puff on the spliff that Freddie had passed around, or to take a couple of the pills that Effy had pulled out. Emily was my drug. I was on a constant high when I was with her. No amount of alcohol, weed or pills could ever make me feel the way Emily makes me feel.

I was sitting on the sofa, my arm around my girlfriend (god, it felt good to be able to call her that again), stealing kisses from her every now and again. Every single kiss we shared made me feel like I was flying. This was what I had missed most over the last few months. Yeah, I missed being able to hang out with her, I missed all the good talks we had always had, and I definitely missed the mind-blowing sex, but above all that, I had missed just being able to hold her. To be able to cuddle her, and kiss her and to tell her I loved her, without her throwing it in my face.

As the party carried on, Emily stood to her feet, facing me. She held out her hands toward me and I took them. "C'mon. Lets dance!" she said, pulling me to my feet. I wrapped my arms around her waist, kissing her deeply and guiding her towards our makeshift dance floor, where Panda and Thomas (who seemed to have made up) were dancing. And when I say dancing I mean jumping around, arms and legs flailing all over the place and generally looking like idiots, in the way that only Panda can pull off.

Emily and I began to dance, our bodies moving rhythmically to the music blasting from the stereo. Emily placed her hands on my hips, took a step closer to me so our bodies were pressed together and began to move our hips together, in time to the music. She looked up at me, pure elation written all over her face. We continued to dance for a while, bodies pressed together, grinding in to each other, my arms wrapped around Emily, Emily's hands running over my body as if to convince herself that it was all real. Emily turned around, her back pressed up against my front, placing my hands on her hips and she began to grind her perfect arse in to my hips. I leant forward slightly, placing gentle kisses on the exposed skin of her neck, one of my hands slowly running up her side, gently brushing against her tit. I heard her gasp as she felt my fingers on her, before lowering my hand again and running my fingers as far down her thigh as I could reach, before settling once again on her hip. Emily reached her arm up behind her, clasping the back of my neck and pulling me tighter to her, and I began to suck lightly on her neck. I found myself getting incredibly turned on as Emily gently stroked the back of my neck and I forced myself to pull away from her slightly, before it all escalated in to something the rest of the gang would definitely not want to see. Actually I'm pretty sure Cook would love to see it, but there was no way I was putting on a show for him.

Emily turned back around in my arms, looking slightly confused as to why I pulled away. "Lets save it for later, babe, yeah?" I smiled down at her suggestively, causing her to blush. I gave her a quick peck on the lips before look around the room and meeting Katie's eyes. Katie smiled at me slightly and motioned for me to follow her before walking out of the shed. "I'll be right back," I told Emily, placing another quick kiss on her lips before following Katie out to the garden.

As I stepped outside I could hardly see a thing, it was so dark. After a moment my eyes adjusted and I saw Katie sitting on a bench, a bit further up the garden. I walked over to where she was and sat down next to her. We were both silent for a minute and I got the feeling Katie had something to say but didn't know how to say it. "What's up Katiekins?" I asked, figuring I might as well give her hand.

"What makes you think something's up?"

"Well you just dragged me away from a lovely moment with your sister, so I'm guessing you didn't just want me to come out here so that we cold sit here in silence…" I replied, my sarcastic side coming through, as it always does when Katie is around. We had been getting on really well lately. She had been staying at my place quite often, even though the rest of her family had moved out already. I still couldn't help being sarcastic to her all the time though. Old habits die hard, I guess. Beside, she dished it back to me, but we both knew it was all in good fun now.

"Right…" Katie started, "well you know Mum and Dad have moved in to a little flat, yeah?" I nodded. I had never seen the flat but from what I had heard from Katie it was pretty fucking small. It only had a tiny kitchen/lounge room, a small dingy bathroom and two tiny bedrooms, which meant she had to share with her perve of a little brother, James. That's why she had been staying with me a bit – she couldn't stand not having any space. "Well it's been a bit shit there lately… everything is pretty fucked up. Mum and Dad are doing ok, but there's just no space there. We all just get on each other's nerves. Anyway… I had a bit of a fight with Mum this evening… It started off small but just got bigger, until it got way out of hand and she told me not to come home again… that I wasn't welcome there anymore." I couldn't see Katie's face but I could tell from her voice that she had begun to cry. I shuffled closer and awkwardly put my arm around her. Apparently she didn't find my gesture too strange and she leant in to me, before speaking again, "So… I was just wondering… maybe it would be ok if… I mean if you and Ems didn't mind then maybe…" she mumbled between sniffles, her lisp stronger than normal as she fought back the tears.

I knew what she was getting at, and I could tell she didn't know how to say it, so I cut her off, "Katie, you know you are always welcome to stay with me. You can live with us as long as you need. Cook has been using the spare room since he got released, but I'll tell him he has to share. If you're ok with that, that is… otherwise I'll tell him to sleep on the couch…"

"No, sharing will be fine. Thanks Naoms. I really appreciate it. It wont be for long. I'm sure Mum will get over it soon enough and let me back home."

I smiled when I heard her use Emily's nickname for me. I had missed being called that. "Don't worry about it Katie, you can stay as long as you want." There was silence for a few minutes and I continued to hug Katie and eventually she stopped crying and her breathing calmed. "So what did you and mama Fitch fight about then?" I asked her.

"Um. Well… She was pissed that Emily was still staying with you, even though you… you know…"

"Fucked everything up?" I finished for her

"Well yeah…" she answered, a slight smile on her lips. "She was angry that Emily had decided to stay with you, rather than move back in with us. She just doesn't understand it. And I told her that she stayed with you because you both still loved each other, you just had to work through some stuff and she snapped at me. Said that it was wrong for Emily to be gay and that I was stupid to stick up for her. And then I said that there was nothing wrong with Emily being gay and she got all worked up and started talking about how it's not the life that she wanted for her and how she will never have grandkids because Emsy's gay and I can't have kids." Katie explained

"Woah, what? You can't have kids?" I asked

"Oh. Shit. I thought that Emily probably would have told you that…"

"Well we kind if haven't talked for the last few months, Kay…"

"I know, it just didn't dawn on me that she might not have told you. Yeah. Anyway. I can't have kids. I'm starting to come to terms with it, and I thought Mum was too but then she just threw it in my face. I got upset, we fought more… She kicked me out… And now here we are"

"Here we are," I said, standing up. Katie followed me and I pulled her in to a tight hug. "Don't worry about anything Katiekins, it'll all get better soon. And in the mean time you can stay with us and we'll take care of you."

"Thanks Naomi. I really do appreciate it." Katie said, hugging me back, just as tight. I heard the shed door open but didn't bother to look around to see who it was.

"Uhh, Naoms? You know that's not me, right?" I laughed as I heard Emily's confused voice behind me and I released Katie and turned to face my girlfriend.

"Yes, Ems, believe it or not I can actually tell the two of you apart. Me and Katie were just having a little chat. She's going to stay with us for a while… if that's ok with you, that is…" I explained

"Of course that's fine with me. It'll be great" Emily said, smiling at us. I could tell she was happy to have her sister around again. Even though she hadn't told me, I knew she had missed not living with Katie the last few months.

I took a step toward Emily and pulled her close to me. "You ready to go home?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow at her.

Emily smiled, "Yep, I'm ready" she answered. "Katie, you coming with us?" she asked, turning toward her twin.

"Nah, I'll leave you guys to it. I'll see what Eff is doing and either go back to her place or just crash here. I'll tell Cook to stay here too… If he hasn't already passed out, that is…"

Emily walked to her sister and pulled her in to a hug. "Text me when you know what your plans are, yeah? And you can come home whenever you want in the morning. I'll take you back to Mum and Dad's at some stage tomorrow to grab some of your stuff"

Katie nodded, "Thanks. See you guys tomorrow. Have a good night."

"Don't worry about that Katiekins, I'm sure we will…" I said, knowing it would get Katie worked up.

"Ugh, fuck off, lezza, that's my sister!" Katie cried, a look on her face that was crossed with shock and disgust.

I went back inside the shed, grabbing mine and Emily's bags and called out a general goodbye to anybody that could hear me over the music. I walked back outside to where Emily was waiting for me, took her hand in mine and led her up the garden, back towards our house.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to Ninja90 for reviewing, in answer to your question, yes, I will be delving in Naomi and Emily's night together.

So a brief word of warning, this chapter is all smut. If you're not in to that kind of stuff don't bother reading.

Skins isn't mine.

Chapter 2

**Emily:**

It has been one of the best nights of my life. Considering how shit the day had started tonight has been pretty fucking wonderful. And judging by the looks Naomi is giving me, as we walk home from Freddie's shed, hand in hand, it's only about to get better.

It didn't take too long for us to get back to the house with the blue door. We had walked quite fast, only stopping occasionally for a few quick kisses before continuing our journey through the dark streets of Bristol.

We arrived at our house and Naomi began to search through her bag for her keys, having trouble finding them in the dim porch light. I was standing behind her and I slowly wrapped my arms around Naomi's waist, bringing my hands together in front of her stomach. I stood on my tip toes and began to gently nip and kiss the bare skin on Naomi's neck and I felt her break in to goose bumps.

Naomi eventually found her keys and we awkwardly made our way inside, my arms still wrapped around her, my lips reluctant to leave her neck. As soon as we were inside I kicked the door shut behind me and quickly spun Naomi around, pressing her up against the door. I attacked her lips with the passionate kiss that I had been waiting all night to give her, ever since she had made her confession in the shed. I brushed my tongue along her bottom lip, and felt Naomi open her mouth. I ran my hands up Naomi's side and felt her gasp in to the kiss and I quickly squeezed both her tits. I gently pulled away from the kiss and began to place hot, open-mouthed kisses down Naomi's neck. Naomi tipped her head back, resting it on the door, while I continued to massage her breasts, through her clothes.

I could sense my girlfriend getting more turned on, her breathing growing more erratic, as I continued to kiss her neck, running my hands all over her body. I felt one of Naomi's arms wrap tightly around my neck, the other wrap around my waist, pulling me closer to her, so our body were pressed right up against each other. I turned my face back to Naomi's and her lips immediately found mine, meeting in a hard, passionate kiss. Naomi began to push me backwards, through the entrance hall. "Step" she mumbled in to the kiss, letting me know I was about to run in the staircase.

We awkwardly began to climb the stairs, neither of us wanting to break the kissing. As we reached the top of the stairs Naomi moved her hands on to my hips and guided me backwards in to our bedroom. As soon as we were inside she kicked the door shut with her foot and pushed me up against the wall, much like I had done to her only minutes before.

We continued to kiss, our tongues engaging in a furious battle for dominance. I pushed on Naomi's hips, pushing her away slightly and turning us around so that once again, Naomi was pushed up against the wall. I moved my lips down Naomi's neck again, like I knew she loved and she turned her head slightly, giving me more room to kiss, lick and suck.

I felt Naomi's hands on my hips, pushing me away slightly, but her just grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the wall above her head and continued to suck on her throat. I knew I was leaving a mark but I didn't care and it didn't seem like Naomi cared either. I wanted everyone to know that she was mine again. After I had branded her I felt Naomi pulling back again. I stopped kissing her and looked up at her, curious to find out what was wrong. Naomi's face was still turned to the side slightly and I turned my head to see what she was looking at. I saw the bags that I had packed earlier still at the foot of the bed, the shirt that I sleep in lying on the bed. That was weird. I was pretty sure I had put that on top of the bags when I got changed to go to Freddie's…

I looked back at Naomi, releasing the grip I had on her wrists and placing my hands on her cheeks, slowly turning her face so that she was looking straight in to my eyes. "What's wrong?" I asked her. Naomi was silent for a moment as she continued to stare in to my eyes. "Babe?" I urged her.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Naomi finally said, "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

I smiled up at her, touched by her thoughtfulness and pulled her down so that our lips met in a gentle kiss. "I'm sure," I replied, bringing our lips briefly together again. "I love you. I love you so much"

"I love you, too, Ems, but if you want to take this slowly I understand. We don't have to do this tonight if you don't want. I don't want it to be rushed or something you will end up regretting in the morning."

I put my arms around Naomi's neck and pulled her in to a tight embrace, my mouth right next to her ear. "I do want this," I whispered gently, "I've never wanted anything more."

We continued to hold each other tightly for a moment, savouring the embrace before I stepped back, looked deep in to Naomi's eyes and smiled at her lovingly. Naomi smiled back at me and I pulled my lower lip in to my mouth, biting it softly, in the way I knew Naomi thought was sexy. I took a step toward her and slowly pulled Naomi's cardigan off her shoulders. Naomi repeated my actions, pulling mine off and dropping it to the floor. We began to slowly undress each other until we both stood before each other, wearing only our underwear.

Naomi took a step toward me and slowly ran her hands down my arms, across my stomach and around my back, pulling me in to another tight embrace, both of us appreciating the feel of our almost-naked bodies pressed together. It had been months since we had felt each other like that and I had missed it so much. Months since we had hugged, months since we had kissed (except for the time I kissed her in front of Mum to piss her off and for the odd peck on the forehead or cheek that Naomi had placed on me when she must have been feeling particularly confident). I had missed just having someone to hold at the end of a shit day or as I lay awake in bed. I knew it had partly been my fault, since I had been punishing her, but that didn't stop me from missing it.

I hugged Naomi back, slowly running my hands over the exposed skin of her back. I reached up and undid Naomi's bra, stepping away from the embrace to pull it off completely. I then reach behind my own back and undid my bra, slowly pulled it off and dropped it to the floor.

I saw Naomi's eyes go wide as she took in the sight of my uncovered breasts. I allowed her to stare at my tits for a moment before clearing my throat. "uhh, babe? My face is actually up here…" I said, jokingly. A small smile spread across Naomi's face but she didn't move her staring gaze from my chest. Instead she moved closer, cupping my tits gently and leant down to place gentle kisses on them, softy licking the underside of my breast then around my hard nipple before sucking it up in to her mouth. I gasped as she bit softly on my nipple and I tangled my hands in the blonde's long hair. Naomi continued to suck my nipple for a minute, as my breathing grew more irregular before moving across and repeating her actions on my right tit.

When I couldn't stand it any longer I pulled Naomi's face up so that our lips met and I walked her backward until her legs hit the bed. Naomi sat on the edge of the bed and I gently pushed her so that she was lying on her back, her legs dangling off the edge.

I crawled on to the bed and straddled Naomi, my arms either side of her, supporting my weight. I nibbled softly for a moment on her ear, kissed along her jaw line and down her neck. I slowly licked down her chest, stopping for a moment to kiss her breasts and suck each nipple before licking further down her stomach, stopping when I reached the top of her knickers.

Naomi's breathing was ragged and I gasped as I cupped her centre and felt just how wet she was. "Christ Naoms, you're so wet," I said.

"Yeah, well… It's been a while…" Naomi replied somewhat sheepishly.

I looked up at her confused. "Well yeah, but… surely you… you know… found a way to… alleviate the pressure yourself…?"

"No. I didn't feel like I deserved it," Naomi said, "If you wanted to punish me then I would take it. I wasn't going to do it myself."

I felt water rush to my eyes as I realised once again just what I had made Naomi put up with over the last few months and how much it had affected her. Naomi quickly sat up and wiped away a tear that trickled down my cheek.

"Emily…? Ems, what's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Naoms."

"What? What for?"

"For punishing you. You didn't deserve it."

"Yes I did," Naomi replied, kissing me lightly on the lips, "But It doesn't matter now anyway. I love you" Naomi kissed me again, "I will always love you." Another kiss, "We're together now and I'm never letting you go again." Naomi brought our lips together in a fiery kiss and I pushed her back down on to the mattress. After a few minutes of passionate kissing we broke apart, both desperate for air. Once again, I kissed down Naomi's perfect body and began to pull down her knickers. Naomi lifted her hips off the beds to make it easier for me to pull them off and I dropped them to the floor. Naomi then sat forward and removed me of my last article of clothing.

I climbed, once again, on top of Naomi, our naked bodies finally coming together. I felt Naomi's body begin to writhe beneath me and I gave her a quick kiss on the lips before slowly moving down her body, kissing every inch of skin as I went. When I reached my destination I gently kissed and licked Naomi's upper thighs, before wrapping my arms around her legs, holding her in place as I began my ministrations on my lover's hot, wet pussy.

I heard Naomi gasp, and I looked up to see her eyes shoot open as my tongue entered her, going deep before moving up and flicking her clit. Naomi's hips began to buck forward and I tightened the grip I had on her thighs, holding her in place. I moved my tongue in little circles around her clit before sticking it deep inside her again. I continued doing this until I knew she wouldn't be able to last much longer. I relaxed the grip I had on her thighs and easily inserted two fingers deep inside her and began to pump them in and out slowly, still licking lightly around her centre.

I felt Naomi's hand make her way in to my hair and gently pull me upward, indicating where she wanted me. I kissed my way back up Naomi's stomach, past her heaving breasts, resisted the urge to leave another mark on her throat and kissed her passionately on the lips. I felt Naomi's tongue immediately enter my mouth and our tongues swirled around each other's as I brought her closer to the edge.

I inserted a third finger and began to pump my hand in and out as fast as I could, the palm of my hand bumping roughly against Naomi's bundle of nerves on every upward motion. Naomi wrapped her arms around me and dug her nails in to my back. I could feel that she was close, so I pulled back slightly. I felt Naomi dig her nails even harder in to my back and I was pretty sure that she was drawing blood. I didn't care though. I was too busy concentrating on how amazing Naomi looked, writhing underneath me from my every touch.

Naomi scrunched her eyes closed tight and I moved my head so my mouth was right next to her ear. "Open them." I whispered softly before biting down lightly on her ear lobe. "I want to see you come."

Naomi obeyed and as we looked in to each other's eyes I felt Naomi's body tense up underneath me. I felt her walls close in around my fingers as her body began to convulse and twitch under one of the most intense orgasms I had even seen her have. I continued to slide my fingers in and out and around Naomi's clit as she cried out my name over and over again.

I slowly brought Naomi down from her climax and our tongues met in a passionate kiss as Naomi's body began to relax. "Christ Ems. That was… Wow!" Naomi said, still breathless, as I rested my head down on Naomi's chest. Naomi began to run her fingers through my hair and I felt her place a kiss on the top of my head. We stayed like that for a while, savouring the moment, simply lying in each other's arms.

After a while, when we had both caught our breath, Naomi flipped us over so that she was on top of me. She brought our lips together in a deep kiss before pulling back. "Your turn," she simply stated, before kissing down my breasts and stomach and settling herself between my thighs, much as I had done to her not long before.

"Thank fuck," I said, before I felt Naomi's hot breath on my burning centre and forgot how to form a cohesive sentence.

I heard Naomi moan in to my pussy as she began to suck on my clit. My hips bucked forward as I felt her lips vibrate against my clit and I began to gyrate my pelvis in to her face, powerless to stop them. Naomi inserted two of her long, beautifully skilled fingers and began to pump them in and out, quickly increasing her speed. I felt myself getting close within minutes, and Naomi must have been able to as well, because she suddenly slowed her fingers and began licking, in long strokes, the whole way up my dripping wet slit. I almost screamed when I felt her fingers slow down and I grabbed a fistful of Naomi's hair and pushed her face deeper in to me. I felt Naomi smile against me when she felt me pushing her further in, but she resisted.

She began to tease me, moving the tip of her tongue in small circles around my clit, not quite touching it, causing me to writhe and squirm even more than I already was underneath her. She reached her hand up and began to gently run her fingers across my stomach and over my breasts, gently tugging and playing with my incredibly stiff nipples.

After a while she slowly began to bring me close to the edge again. All at once, she suddenly squeezed my tit, sucked hard on my clit and thrust three fingers deep inside me, curling them at the same time. My hips thrust forward with incredible force as I screamed out Naomi's name, along with a string of swear words. I pulled Naomi's hand from my tit, entwining our fingers and squeezing it tight, my other hand still tangled tightly in her hair.

Naomi continued to curl her fingers inside me and suck on my clit and within seconds I came hard, exploding in to her mouth. Naomi continued to suck and curl her fingers for a moment, slowing down her actions and she slowly brought me down. She crawled up my body and collapsed on top of me, her head resting on my chest, before lifting her head slightly to place small, gentle kisses there. She rested her head back down and I watched it slowly rise and fall with each deep breath I took.

Completely spent, I wrapped my legs around her waist and my arms around her shoulders and held her tight to me as I tried to catch my breath. Once my breathing had calmed somewhat, I clasped the back of Naomi's neck and pulled her up, placing a number of quick kisses on her lips. Naomi settled in beside me, lying on her side. She wrapped one of her legs around me and rested her head on my chest, cuddling up to me. I put my arm around my girlfriend and with my spare hand I found Naomi's hand, entwined our fingers, rubbing my thumb back and forward slowly over Naomi's.

We lay like that for a while, just holding each other, whispering words of love and placing gentle kisses wherever we could reach until I heard Naomi's breathing even out and I knew she had fallen asleep. I lay for a while longer, remembering every little detail of the night, thinking how amazing it felt to have the love of my life back in my arms, before I fell in to a deep sleep as well.

**So that's chapter 2. Hope you enjoyed ;) Next chapter should be up in the next day or so. Please review if you have a chance :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**So here's chapter 3. It's a bit longer because it has both Naomi and Emily's POV. So let me know if you prefer longer chapters with split POV's or if you like shorter chapters with just one character.**

**I know it's kind of slow moving at the start... I'm just trying to set things up a bit. Shouldn't be too much longer before the real story starts.**

**Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming :)**

**I dont own Skins.  
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**Chapter 3**

**Naomi:  
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I awoke the next morning with a smile on my face and I opened my eyes to find me and Emily still in the same positions we fell asleep in, Emily's arm around me, holding hands as I cuddled in to her side. I lifted my head slightly and looked up to Emily's face, smiling contentedly when I saw that she was still asleep, a slight smile on her face, breathing deeply. I placed a few gentle kisses on her forehead, cheek, down her neck and on her chest, careful not to wake her. I looked at the time. 8:37. I'll let her sleep a bit longer and then make her breakfast, I thought. I cuddled back in to her side, softly running my fingertips over her bare stomach.

I was disturbed from my actions when I heard a buzzing from the other side of the room. I carefully untangled myself from the sheet that was around my waist and slid of the bed, making sure I dint wake Emily up. I quietly padded across the room and realised the buzzing was coming from Emily's bag. I searched through it quietly and pulled out her phone. '2 new messages', it read. I flipped the phone open and saw that they were both from Katie. Figuring Emily wouldn't mind if I checked what they said, I opened the first one. The time on the message told me that it had been sent last night. I guess we had been too busy to check it. I smiled to myself, remembering exactly what we had been busy doing last night. "**Hey Ems, me & Cook are crashing in Freds shed. See you 2moro xo**"

I opened the second message and read what it said "**Hey Em, hope u had a good night. I guessing since u didn't reply 2 my last message that u did ;) Me & Cook stayed at Freds, we'll give u 2 some time and then come home round noon. Xo**" I smiled at the text and went and sat back down on my side of the bed, replying to the message.

"**Hey Katiekins, Ems is still asleep so I thought I would reply for her. We did indeed have a good night ;) Thanks for giving us some space. See you later, roomie :) Naoms x**"

I lied back down, resting my head on my pillows, lying on my side, and watching Em sleep. She looked so peaceful and I couldn't resist running my fingertips over stomach again, like I had been before. I was tempted to run my fingers down beneath the sheet covering her legs, but I convinced myself not to, deciding to just enjoy watching her sleep. I couldn't resist running my fingertips a bit higher though, running them lightly over the curve of her perfect breasts and over her chest. I leant forward, and placed gently kisses on her breasts and I felt her breathing hitch slightly, telling me that she had woken up. I looked up at her and saw that her eyes were still closed, but she had a slight smile on her face. I leant up and kissed her very softly on her lips, before returning back to her breasts. I continued placing light kisses on them, before pulling back slightly and blowing gently on them. I heard her breathing hitch as I saw her nipples immediately harden. I returned my lips to her tits, licking the underside of them with the very tip of my tongue, before circling her nipple and encasing it with my mouth and sucking gently on it. I felt her hand reach up and caress the back of my neck. After a minute I moved over and began to suck on her other nipple, before I felt her hand pulling me up. I released her perfect tits and kissed my way back up her neck before meeting her lips in a tender kiss.

I always loved our morning kisses. They were always unrushed, always holding the memory of what had happened the night before. The kiss started slowly, and deepened slightly as I felt Emily pull me closer to her. I moved my body slightly so that I was lying on top of her and allowed her tongue to enter my mouth. I felt her foot run up my leg and felt myself getting turned on. I knew where this was heading, and as good as it sounded to make passionate love to her over and over again, I knew we both needed food and a shower.

Reluctantly I began to pull back slightly from Emily, her lips following mine as I moved away. I allowed her place a few more kisses on my lips, before climbing off her and standing next to the bed, taking hold of her hands. "What are you doing? Get back in to bed!" she said, sounding slightly annoyed. I smiled down at her and shook my head. "What? You can't just get me going like that and then stop!" she cried, attempting to pull me back in to the bed. I let her kiss me a couple of times before pulling back again. She pouted at me.

"You look so cute when you pout." I said, laughing.

"It's not supposed to look cute, I'm annoyed," She said, crossing her arms over her chest and continuing to sulk. I could tell that she was joking now though.

"C'mon babe," I said pulling her, hands back in mine, pulling them to my lips and kissing the backs of her hands. A small smile broke out on her face and she turned around so that her legs hung off the side of the bed. "I'll make us some breakfast and then we can do whatever we want for the next few hours. It's only… 8:54," I said glancing at the clock, "and Katie and Cook won't be home till noon, so we have plenty of time to do all those dirty things that I know are running through your head." I continued, winking at her. She blushed slightly and wrapped her arms around me, holding me tight for a moment.

I placed a kiss on the top of her head before pulling away and walking, still naked, to my wardrobe. I swung my hips slightly as I walked away from her, knowing that she would be watching me. I opened my wardrobe and pulled out a couple of pairs of knickers and bent over at the waist to grab a couple of my t-shirts out of the bottom draw, since I knew all her clothes were still packed in the bags that sat at the foot of our bed. I stood up again and turned to see her staring at me, mouth slightly open and eyes wide, staring at me. "Pervert," I said smiling at her. She swallowed hard and jumped off the bed, walking quickly over to me, grabbing my neck and pulling me down in to a fiery kiss.

We continued to kiss for a couple of moment, Emily pushing me back so I was resting up against the wardrobe. I slipped one of my legs between hers and bumped it up slightly, pressing my thigh in to her centre. She gasped slightly, pulled away from the kiss and rested our foreheads together. "How about we just forget about breakfast and move on to more exciting activities?" she asked me, attempting to sound sexy, but failing miserable as her stomach let out a loud rumble.

I laughed quietly at her and placed a chaste kiss on her lips before stepping away from her. "As much as I would love that, I know how much you eat and I wouldn't want your performance to suffer because you are so hungry," I pushed one of my t-shirts and a pair of knickers in to her hands, before turning around and beginning to dress myself.

"I don't eat that much, you know. I eat the same amount as everyone else." I heard Emily say, as I pulled on my knickers. "Whatever you say, babe" I answered, pulling on my t-shirt.

I turned back around to face her and saw her still standing in the same place, staring at me. "C'mon, fatty, get dressed and lets go have breakfast." I said, knowing that she would know I was only joking.

"Bitch." Emily muttered before pulling on the knickers and t-shirt I had given her.

As soon as she was dressed I pulled her in to a tight hug and kissed her on the lips for a second, before taking her hand and leading her downstairs. I sat Emily down on a chair in the kitchen table and put the kettle on to boil. I moved around the kitchen, pulling out frying pans, and plates, as well as the ingredients to make bacon and eggs. I put a couple of slices of bread in the toaster and poured myself and Emily a cup of coffee, exactly as I knew she liked it. I continued moving around the kitchen, buttering the toast, frying some eggs and bacon and pouring us each a glass of orange juice.

When I was finished I set a plate of food before Emily, grabbed a plate for myself and sat opposite her, as we both stuck in to our meals. Emily ate as if she hadn't eaten in days and was finished within minutes. "See, I told you that you were a fatty," I said, winking at her. She kicked me underneath the table. "Ow! Fucksake, that hurt!"

"You deserved it." She retorted.

I knew that she was right, so I just smiled at her. "There's a bit more in the frying pan if you're still hungry."

"Ta," Emily said, getting up and walking to the stove, grabbing another plate-full.

Once we had both finished our breakfast I stood up, placed a quick kiss on Emily's lips and took our used dishes to the sink. Deciding to leave the dishes for now and make the most of our time alone, I walked back to where Emily was still sitting at the table and bent over, kissing her lightly on the lips, letting her tongue slowly enter my mouth. After a minute of exploring each other's mouths I pulled away. "I'm going to take a shower," I said. I moved slightly so that my mouth was right next to her ear. "Feel free to come and join me," I whispered sexily, running fingers lightly up her thigh.

I straightened up and turned around leaving the kitchen, and walking up the stairs, Emily right on my heels. I reached the bathroom, let Emily in and closed the door behind her. I felt Emily's hands on my hips, pulling at the hem of my shirt before I had even closed the door properly. I turned around, faced her and lifted my arms, allowing her to remove my shirt, before I did the same to her. I pulled off my knickers, and she did the same, throwing them on top of the pile of clothes that had quickly formed on the tiled floor. I allowed my eyes to skim over her body, starting at her feet, up her legs, lingering for a moment on her breasts, knowing she was doing the same. I tore my eyes away from her chest that was rising and falling quickly as she took in my naked form. We looked in each other's eyes for a second, before both taking a step forward, meeting halfway, lips crashing together.

Emily pushed me back, guiding me in to the shower and I found the taps, allowing hot water to wash over our naked bodies. We kissed each other lovingly, hands running all over the other's slippery body. Emily pushed me up against the shower wall as her hand found it's way between my legs. She lifted my leg and I wrapped it around her waist as her fingers began to work their magic. I gasped when her fingers ran lightly over my clit, before she entered me and began to move her fingers in and out. I wrapped my arm around her neck and pulled her even closer to me, kissing her hard. She continued to pump her fingers in and out, her thumb rubbing over my clit in time with her thrusts. It didn't take long for me to come, calling out Emily's name, body shaking and knees buckling, only managing to stay upright by Emily's arms around me.

Emily and I continued to kiss for a few minutes as I came down from my high. We then slowly washed each other's bodies and hair, before I reached around her to turn off the taps. Mum would kill me if she knew we were wasting water like this. Although she would probably mostly just be happy to hear that we were back together. She had always loved Emily and had been pretty pissed when I told her about how I had fucked everything up with Sophia. I had called her a couple of times over the past few months, looking for comfort on the days that Emily had been punishing me particularly bad, but she had always refused to console me, telling it was my fault for being such a twat. She always just told me not to give up on her, that Emily would forgive me eventually, but in the mean time I should just let her get all the feelings of hurt and betrayal out of her system. Sometimes I think Mum thought that Emily was actually her daughter, not me. Oddly enough, Kieran had been the one I usually ended up talking to when I was upset. I knew that my Mum still loved me though. We had lots of great talks while she had been gone, travelling all over the world with Kieran. She just refused to tell me that it wasn't my fault or that I didn't deserve what Emily was doing to me. If she did tell me that I would have known that she was lying anyway, and I appreciated her honesty. It's something I had always loved about my Mum, even in the days when I hardly spoke to her.

I grabbed a couple of towels out of the cupboard and Emily and I began to dry ourselves off. Once she was dry, Emily turned around to hang her towel on the rail behind her. I gasped as I saw her naked back for the first time that morning. "Fuck. Ems, when did I do that?" I asked, indicating to small marks she had all over her upper back, clearly made by me digging my nails in to her back.

Emily turned and looked at her shoulders in the mirror. "Oh. Those. You did them last night when I was making you scream my name over and over again," Emily said with a wink.

I walked over to her and gently ran my fingers across them. "Do they hurt?"

"Nah, not really."

"I'm really sorry. You should have told me not to hold on so tight," I said, leaning down and kissing the small cuts gently, wishing I could just kiss them away.

"Don't worry about it, babe. It was well worth it," Emily said, turning in my arms and kissing my lightly on the lips. She pulled the towel that I had wrapped around me and dropped it to the ground, running her hand softly down my side before settling on my hip. I pulled away from the kiss, took her hand and led her back to our bedroom, pushing her back gently on to the bed before climbing on top of her, and proceeding to make love to her. There was no other way to describe it. It wasn't fucking, it wasn't just sex, it was sweet, sweet love.

* * *

**Emily:**

Naomi and I made love to each other for hours, until we were both so spent from last nights and this mornings activities, we just lay together, holding each other tight. We both drifted of to sleep at some stage and I woke up when I heard the front door close. I looked at the clock. 12:42. I assumed that meant Katie and Cook were home. I untangled myself from Naomi and got another pair of Naomi's knickers and a t-shirt from her draw, since we had left the ones we put on this morning on the bathroom floor. I grabbed a pair of Naomi's track pants and pulled them on as well. They were way too long for me, but they were comfy and I liked the feel of wearing Naomi's clothes.

I walked downstairs, leaving Naomi asleep in our bed and found Katie and Cook in the kitchen. Katie was unpacking some groceries and Cook was filling the sink with hot water, gathering mine and Naomi's breakfast dishes and beginning to clean up. "You don't need to do those, Cook," I told him, "I'll do them later."

"Nonsense, Red. I'm happy to do my share of cleaning around here, since you and Blondie have been kind enough to let me stay." Cook told me, starting to scrub the frying pan. I grabbed a dish towel and began to dry the dishes that he had washed while Katie continued to move around the kitchen, unpacking a few shopping bags.

"What's with all the groceries?" I asked her.

"Cook and I are making dinner tonight, so make sure you and Naomi are home for it, yeah?"

"Not like you to cook…" I said, looking at her questioningly.

"Yeah, well, like Cook said, you guys are being nice enough letting us stay here, so it's only fair that we chip in with our share of cooking and cleaning."

Me and Cook finished doing the dishes and Cook stepped out to the backyard for a smoke. Naomi always smoked in the house, so it wasn't really necessary for him to go outside but I smiled at his thoughtfulness, not saying anything, knowing that Katie didn't normally smoke. Katie made her way in to the front lounge room and sat on the sofa. I followed her in and sat next to her, taking her hand and holding it in my lap. "You ok, Katie?" I asked

"Yeah," she replied, not very convincingly, staring in to her lap.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, still not looking at me.

"Katie, look at me." She didn't look up. "Look at me Katie." She still didn't look so I gently placed my hand in her chin and turned her face toward me. She reluctantly looked in to my eyes and I saw nothing but sadness. "Katie, you know you can always talk to me, right?" She nodded sadly. I felt bad for not being there for her much over the last few months. "I mean it, Kate. I know I have been a bit shit lately and that I haven't been there for you when you needed me. I'm sorry for that. I won't let it happen again." She leant toward me and rested her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. We stayed like that for a few minutes, silently letting each other know that we loved each other and would always be there. I placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I'm glad to have you back, Katie.' I told her.

She pulled out of the hug and we sat together for a few minutes, holding hands. It was nice knowing that my sister would be around more often. Even though we didn't always get along, I really loved her and I knew that she loved me and I had missed spending time with her lately.

I decided I should go back upstairs and join Naomi again so I placed a quick kiss on the back of Katie's hand and stood up. "Let me know when you want to go to Mum and Dad's to get your stuff and I'll take you on the scooter."

"Thanks Emsy. I really appreciate everything you guys are doing for me. I know Cook appreciates it too. And I know you guys need your space, so just let us know when you guys want some alone time and we'll go out for a while."

I smiled down at her, grateful, yet slightly shocked and slightly weirded out by the fact that my formerly homophobic sister was basically offering me and my girlfriend time alone to have sex. I rubbed her shoulder gently in appreciation and left the room, making my way back upstairs to where I knew my girlfriend would be waiting for me.

I entered the bedroom and saw Naomi sitting cross-legged on the bed, wearing only knickers and a bra, talking on the phone. She smiled up at me as I walked over to her. "Hey, you" I said, before kissing her on her head as I walked to the foot of the bed, figuring I might as well unpack the bags I had packed the day before.

"Hey babe" Naomi replied, smiling widely as she saw me taking the clothes out of my bag and begin to fold them and put them away in the wardrobe. "No, sorry, I was talking to Emily," I heard her say in to the phone.

I turned to look at her. "Gina?" I mouthed. She nodded at me.

"Yeah, she's still here." Naomi said down the phone line. "Yeah, hold on a second." Naomi held the phone out to me, "Mum wants to speak to you." I took the phone from Naomi and put it to my ear.

"Hey Gina!" I said

"Hello Emily love, how are you?"

"I'm great! How are you and Kieran? Where about are you now?"

"That's good to hear. We are both great. We are spending a couple of days in Russia at the moment, we'll be heading back to Bristol in a few days."

"Sounds good, looking forward to seeing you both again."

"We are looking forward to seeing you both again too." Gina said, before continuing, "Listen love, Naomi told me that you two are back together so I just wanted to tell you how happy I am for you and say thank you for taking her back. She's been a right pain in the arse whenever I've talked to her lately, always going on about how horrible it is not being with you." The smile I had on my face faltered as I realised once again the pain that Naomi had been going though. The pain that I had been putting her through.

"I'm sorry Gina," I said, "I didn't mean to hurt her like I did. I guess I got a bit carried away."

"Don't be stupid Emily. I'm the one that should be apologizing for raising a twat of a daughter."

"She is a bit of a twat sometime, hey?" I said, winking at Naomi as I said it. Naomi pretended to look offended but then grinned at me. I grinned back. I heard Gina laugh.

"Well dear, it's almost dinner time here and Kieran's telling me he's hungry so I better go and fix him something to eat. Useless bugger, couldn't cook a decent meal if his life depended on it. Could you pass me back to Naomi so I can say goodbye please?"

"Sure thing, Gina. See you in a few days."

"Bye Emily, I love you."

"I love you, too, Gina" I passed the phone back to Naomi.

"Hey Mum, it's me again… Yeah, I love you too. See you on Wednesday. What time does your flight get in?... Okay, see you when you get here then. Tell Kieran I said hi and give him a hug from me."

"And one from me." I interrupted.

"Emily says give him one from her as well… Yep… Will do. See you." Naomi hung up the phone and put it on the bedside table.

Naomi walked over to where I stood at the foot of the bed and helped me unpack the last of my things. Once everything was unpacked she sat on the edge of the bed and looked up at me. "So you're staying for good then?" she asked me.

"Of course I am. Why would you think I wasn't?" I asked, looking at her confused.

"Well just coz yesterday I told you to leave and I just wanted to make sure you definitely wanted to stay…" Naomi said.

"Of course I'm staying. I thought last night answered that. You think I'm going to live with you for months, hating you and not speaking to you and then when we get back together I'm going to move out? I don't think so, Naoms…"

Naomi pulled me closer to her and sat me on her lap, wrapping her arms around me. I put my arms around her back and with my other hand gently stroked along her shoulder, up her neck and jaw line, brushing her cheek lightly. "Thank you for taking me back," she whispered quietly.

"Thank you for sticking with me through all the shit. And for saying what you did last night." I said, continuing to stroke her gently. "Did you mean it?"

"Of course I meant it! I meant every single word I said!"

"You've really loved me since we were 12?" I asked.

"Yep. We were in 8th grade. I had just started at the school and I felt awkward because it was half way through the term. It was about my third day there and I got lost finding one of my classes. I'm pretty sure it was English. Anyway, I barged in to the classroom late and everyone stared at me. I looked around and there was only one empty seat, next to a kid who I think was called Darren and he picked his nose and farted the whole time and drew pictures of monsters and shit in his workbook instead of listening. And being the geek that I was, that pissed me off. Anyway. Once I got my stuff sorted I look up and you were sitting directly across from me. I thought you were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. You were wearing a blue skirt with a little white t-shirt. Your hair was half up, half down and you had a pale blue ribbon tied in it. I remember Katie was wearing the same thing, only a pink shirt and she had adjusted it so that her boobs were hanging out as much as possible for a 12 year old." I laughed. It sounded just like Katie. "Anyway… I saw you and straight away started paying about as much attention to what the teacher was as the idiot sitting next to me. I don't think I learnt a single thing in English for that entire year. I just sat and stared at you the whole time. I watched the way you chewed the end of your pen when you were thinking. The way you pretended like you were interested whenever Katie told you something. The way you used to spin your pen around your thumb when you were bored… I used to go home and try for hours to spin my pen like that but I could never do it." I laughed again. I still always did that with my pen whenever I was bored.

"I can't believe you remember all that. I remember you coming in to the class late and I remember thinking how beautiful you were, but I never knew that you used to watch me. I used to sit in that class wishing that Katie didn't sit next to me so that I would be able to look at you without her telling me to stop staring and pay attention." This time it was Naomi's turn to laugh.

"I never knew that. I thought you didn't start liking me till grade 11 when you kissed me at the party." Naomi told me.

"I always liked you, I was just too scared of what Katie would do if she found out. So I hid it for years."

We sat together on the bed for a while, a comfortable silence settling between us. After what seemed like a few minutes I looked at the little panda clock that Naomi had next to the bed. 3:15. Fuck. We had been sitting there for ages. I stood up and grabbed my keys from my bag. "I better go take Katie to Mum and Dad's. Won't be long." I told Naomi, giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

I went downstairs to find Katie, Naomi following me after she had put on some clothes, and walked in to the lounge room. I was surprised to see Cook and Katie sitting in the couch together watching telly. Well Cook was watching the telly, Katie had fallen asleep with her head resting on his shoulder. I went over to her and patted her gently on the arm. "Katie? Sorry to wake you, but we better head over and get your stuff… Are you ready?"

"Huh? Oh yeah… I'm ready. Lets go." Katie said, rubbing her eyes and standing up. "Sorry for falling asleep on you Cook. Didn't even realise."

"No worries Katiekins, you can fall asleep on me anytime." Cook said with a wink.

"Fuck off, Cook." Naomi said to him. "Now go and tidy up the spare room so that Katie can stay in there too. It's turned it to shit hole since you have been staying in there."

**

* * *

And that's chapter 3. Next Chapter will be up in the next day or 2 and will be from Katie's POV. And possibly someone else as well if you like the longer chapters.**

**Hope you're enjoying the long weekend, if you're getting it wherever you are from. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to all those who have been reviewing. This chapter is not at all what I hoped it would be. It's end of semester so I have been a bit distracted trying to get all my uni majors in. I know it seems like nothing is happening in this but I just need to set things up a bit so that the real story can start. It's a bit of a longer chapter because I'm trying to get all the boring stuff out of the way in a hurry so we can move on to the good stuff. So try not to give up on it, it will get better.**

**Skins isn't mine.**

**Chapter 4**

**Katie:**

Emily and I walked out the front door and around the corner to where her scooter was parked. She pulled on her helmet and put on those ridiculous goggles. "Why do you wear those?" I asked her, "They squish your face and make you look stupid."

"Because Naomi got them for me and she thinks they look good on me and I love them." She answered, passing me the helmet that was usually Naomi's. I couldn't help but smile at how smitten she was with Naomi all over again. I put on the helmet, trying not to mess my hair up too much. I was a little bit nervous about going on the back of the scooter. I had never been on one before. Emily must have picked up on my hesitation because she looked at me and said, "It's okay, I'm a good driver. And I'll go slow. There's nothing to worry about." I hopped on the back of the scooter and wrapped my arms around Emily's waist. Emily slowly pulled away from the curb and began inching down the street.

"Em, you can go a little bit faster than that," I said in her ear.

Emily picked up the speed and began the short trip to our parent's house. Emily parked the scooter on the street out front and we climbed off, taking off our helmets. Emily pulled her goggles down, letting them dangle around her neck as she looked at our tiny flat. She had never been there before but I had told her a little bit about it. "Jesus, Katie, you told me it was small but I didn't realise it would be this much of a shit hole"

"Yeah, well… I guess I was trying to be positive. Plus it's better than the caravan they lived in for a while…"

We walked to the front door and I opened it with my key. We walked through the door that opened straight in to the tiny kitchen/living area. Mum and Dad both looked up at us from the small shitty couch they had bought cheap from some second hand shop. Dad looked happy to see us, especially Emily and stood up straight away, taking the couple of steps across the room toward us, pulling Emily in to a giant hug. Emily wrapped his arms around our Dad and rested her head against his strong chest. "It's good to see you love," Dad said to her.

"It's good to see you, too, Dad. I've missed you." She replied. Mum stood up and walked toward us.

"Hello girls," she said, "Emily, how are you?"

"Fine thanks," Emily said as Dad led her over to the couch and sat her down, sitting down next to her, his arms still around her.

"What's new, Emsy? You been okay?" Dad asked her.

"Yeah, I've been great. Um, me and Naomi are back together." She told him, glancing up at Mum and she said it.

"That's great to hear, love. Great news. I knew she'd come around eventually." Dad said, pulling Emily in to another hug. Mum acted like she hadn't heard what Emily had said so Dad and Em continued with their conversation.

"Katie, can I talk to you in private for a moment please?" Mum asked me, walking in to her bedroom. I followed and closed the door behind me.

"Katie, I don't want you to move out. I'm sorry for what I said, I didn't mean it. Please don't move out," She told me. I wasn't ready to forgive her yet though. What she had said had really hurt me.

"Mum, it's not good enough to say whatever you want and hurt us and then expect us to forgive you the second you say your sorry. I've told you before, you need to start appreciating us, all of us. We love you, Mum, but all you do is push us away. You don't even think about anyone else's feelings. You tell dad he's stupid because he lost the gym and made _you_ lose the house, you tell Emsy it's wrong for her to be gay because you're worried of what people will think of _you,_ and you tell me there's something wrong with me because I can't have kids, which means _you_ won't get grandkids. You don't even think things through. Just because I can't conceive babies doesn't mean I will never have kids. Same for Emily – just because she's gay doesn't mean she will never have children. And have you just forgotten about James?" I was starting to raise my voice now, getting out all the frustration that had built up over the last couple of months.

"I know it sucks that we lost the money and the house, but none of us care about that. Me, Emily and James, we just want us all to be happy, and I know that's what Dad wants too. It doesn't matter where we live, or how fancy our stuff is, or where we can afford to shop. Did you know that out of all of mine and Emily's friends, our family and JJ's family are the only ones where our parents are actually together? Everyone else's parents have either died, buggered of or just don't give a shit. You don't even stop to think about how lucky we really are." I was getting really angry now. I continued shouting at my Mother, getting every single thing that I was annoyed about off my chest. I saw Emily and Dad poke their heads in to the room to see what was going on but I ignored them, continuing my rant at Mum. We were both in tears by this stage and I felt Emily take a step toward me and gently pull on my arm. I turned around and allowed her to lead me out of the room. Dad stepped out of the doorway, allowing us to pass and stepped toward Mum, pulling her in to a hug, comforting her.

Once we were outside the bedroom Emily pulled me in to a tight hug. "I heard what you said in there. Thank you for standing up for me. For all of us…" she said quietly, wiping away the tears that were trickling down my cheeks.

"She can't treat us like that anymore. It's not fair on anybody." I told her.

"I know. She'll come around though. She just needs some time. C'mon, lets go pack some of your stuff and go home, yeah?"

I led Emily to the tiny room that James and I shared. The room was crap. There was no other way to describe it. There was no furniture because we couldn't afford to buy any; there were just two mattresses on the floor. There was no wardrobe so our clothes were just folded in small piles along the wall. James was lying on his mattress reading a book when we walked in. "Hey James, since when do you read?" Emily asked him when she saw him. James jumped up from his mattress and gave Emily a hug. He had clearly missed her, hardly seeing her the past few months.

"Since the telly, my play station and all my pornos got left at the old house…" He explained. We laughed at him and Emily ruffled his hair. I started moving around the room packing the few belongings I had.

"So, James," Emily started, taking a seat on the mattress next to him, "what do you think of this place?"

"This place is the biggest pile of wank shite I have ever seen! I hate it here. There's nothing to do, and there isn't even a key hole in the bathroom door!"

I continued to pack the rest of my stuff while James and Emily talked for a while. When I was done Emily stood up and we both gave James a quick hug, letting him know that he was welcome to come to visit us at Emily and Naomi's whenever he wanted. We walked out the front and attached my bags to the scooter. I was just putting my helmet on when Emily told me that she would be right back and went back inside. I sat on the scooter for about five minutes, waiting for her to come back out. When she did, she didn't say anything, just put her helmet on, pulled her keys from her pocket and started up the vehicle. "You gonna tell me what that was about?" I asked her. She didn't say anything, just started off up the street. "Ems?" I urged her.

"Nope," was all she said.

"Nope what?"

"Nope, I'm not going to tell you what that was about." I could tell she didn't want to talk about it so I just left it, deciding to try again later, when she seemed to be in a better mood.

We began the silent drive home, along the quiet back streets of Bristol. When we arrived back at Naomi's, Emily stopped the scooter, parking it out the front of the house, removed her helmet and goggles, grabbed one of my bags off the back of the scooter and walked in to the house, still not having said a word. I grabbed the other bag and followed her in to the house.

* * *

**Naomi:**

Me and Cook spent most of the time that Emily and Katie were gone cleaning up the spare room so that it would be fit for Katie to stay in. It took us ages to clean up all of Cook's shit. It looked like he had just brought all of his crap from the student accommodation place he had been staying at and chucked it all over his new room, spreading it as far as he could across the floor. We picked up all his dirty clothes, which was pretty much every article of clothing that he owns, and took it to the laundry room. I taught him how to use the washing machine so that he would actually be able to wear clean clothes for a change, since there was no way I was going to be doing his washing for him. We piled up all mine and Mum's stuff that we had been storing in there against the wall, so that there was still plenty of space. Cook vacuumed the carpet and I found clean sheets and blankets to put on the mattress.

When we were done cleaning the room we went back downstairs, grabbed a couple of beers and sat on the couch in the lounge room. I don't really know why, or how it happened but Cook had become one of the best friends I had ever had. Not that that was really very hard, I had never really had any friends until I started at Roundview, and even then, Emily was my only close friend, and she was my girlfriend. I had never had a best friend. I had never had anyone that I could just talk to about anything; that I loved and trusted with my life. I mean I know I had Emily, and I loved and trusted her more than anyone, but I mean I have never been in a platonic relationship with that level of love and trust. It had started when I saw Cook's soft side, after he hadn't tried to force me to fuck him after the student presidency election. Then we stuck together after I gave Sophia the drugs and then he took the wrap for me. I had missed him so much when he had been in prison. He was the only person that I was actually able to talk to about all the shit with Emily and Sophia and then he wasn't there anymore. I had visited him twice, but we never really talked that much while I was there. I felt guilty for complaining to him about how shit everything in my life was when he was in prison instead of me. But I didn't really have anything else to say. So we ended up just sitting there, not really saying anything until one of us decided it was time to leave.

I was so excited when he was released, we spent a couple of days getting completely fucked, me fed up with all the shit with Emily, him trying to get over Effy. He stayed at Freddie's for a while, then at JJ's, before coming to me. And he had been here ever since. He was comfortable here, he had told me. I had begun to view him like a brother, and I knew he saw me as a sister. And he had been getting on really well with Emily, too, which I loved. I loved that my two best friends; my girlfriend and my 'brother' were happy spending time together. It meant that I didn't have to try and divide my time up between them without feeling guilty. And Cook seemed to be getting along pretty well with Katie, too. It looked like, for the first time in a long time, that everything was getting better – that everything was going to be okay.

So Cook and I sat on the couches, waiting for the other half of our 'family' to come home. We talked about what we planned to do over the next year, I told him how good it was to be back with Emily, he told me how happy he was for us. After a while we fell in to an easy silence and just sat together on the sofa. That was the cool thing about our relationship. We didn't have to talk all the time. We were happy just being with each other.

I saw Emily's scooter pull up out the front and she quickly hopped off and walked up to the front door. I got up and opened the door for her, leaning down slightly, expecting a kiss but she just walked straight past me, dumped Katie's bag on the ground and walked quickly up the stairs. She turned the corner so I couldn't see her anymore and a moment later I heard our bedroom door close. I turned to look at Katie, who was just coming through the front door. "What was all that about?" I asked her, taking the bag she was carrying and placing next to the one Emily had brought in.

"No idea. We left Mum and Dad's and were about to leave when she went back in there. I stayed outside and about five minutes later she came back out again. She wouldn't tell me what she was doing in there, just drove off and she hasn't said a word since," Katie told me, clearly just as confused as I was. "Maybe I should call Dad, see if he knows what happened…" Katie suggested.

"No, don't worry about it, I'll go talk to her, see if I can find out what's up." I passed my half-drunk beer to Katie and she took a sip and went to join Cook in the lounge room.

I turned and climbed the stairs, walking across the landing until I reached our door. I knocked softly and opened the door slowly, peeking inside. I saw Emily lying on her side of the bed, her back to me. "Babe? Can I come in?" I asked her, not wanting to push things if she needed her space. She didn't say anything, so I took a small step inside and closed the door behind me. I saw her back shudder slightly and heard a tiny sniff and realised she was crying. I took a few quick strides around the bed and knelt down next to her, my face close to hers. I felt an ache somewhere deep inside me when I saw the tears streaming down her face. She was curled up in to a ball, arms wrapped around herself as if she was trying to hold herself together. Like if she let go she would fall apart. I gently wiped a few tears from her cheek and took her hand. She wouldn't let me take it at first, but I persisted and eventually she let me bring it to my mouth and kiss it softly before holding it tight. With my free hand I cupped her face, wiping away more tears that continued to stream down her face. I brushed away some of her beautiful red hair that was falling her hers eyes, now damp from the tears. I leant forward and placed a light kiss on the top of her head, before bringing my face close to hers and resting our foreheads together. It hurt so much to see her so upset and I felt a tear trickle down my own cheek. "What's the matter?" I whispered softly. She didn't say anything. "Did something happen at your parent's?" At those words she fell apart. The tears streamed even harder, snot running from her nose, her whole body shaking. My heart broke at the sight and as she leaned in to me slightly I wrapped my arms around her and held her tighter than I have ever held her before.

We stayed like that for a while, Emily sobbing her heart out in to my chest, soaking my shirt. I kept my arms tight around her, rubbing her back slightly, placing soft kisses on to the top of her head occasionally. Eventually my knees were so sore from kneeling on the ground for so long that I couldn't bear to sit like that any longer. I moved Emily over slightly and sat on the bed next to her, still holding her tight. She curled up in to me and continued to cry. I was shocked that she still had any tears left. I held for ages, until eventually the tears stopped and she ended up dry sobbing in to my chest. Eventually she pulled away slightly and looked up at me, eyes red and puffy from crying for so long. I dried her cheeks with my hands and kissed her on the forehead.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, continuing to hold each other. Eventually she sat up and settled next to me, resting her back against the bed head. I took her hand in both of mine and held it tight, resting it in my lap. She rested her head on my shoulder. "Sorry for ruining your shirt," she said to me, pointing out the mascara stains I now had on my t-shirt.

"Don't be stupid, Ems, I couldn't give a shit about my shirt." I paused for a moment, trying to decide on the best approach to find out what happened. When I couldn't think of a particularly good way I just came right out and asked her, "Do you want to talk about what happened?"

"What makes you think something happened?" I looked down at her and raised an eyebrow, letting her know it was kind of obvious that something had happened. She got the point and gave me the weakest, most pathetic smile in the history of the world. "Well…" she started, "We got to Mum and Dad's place and I sat with dad a while, catching up… you know… just talking for a bit. And Mum had dragged Katie off for some reason. Anyway, before I know it, Katie is shouting at Mum. I don't know what Mum did or said but Katie started having a go at her for not appreciating us. Me being gay must have come up somehow because I heard Katie defending me." I smiled slightly when I heard that Katie had stood up for Em, realising again just how far she had come since she first found out Emily was gay.

"Anyway, Katie was getting pretty fired up so I dragged her out and we went to pack up her stuff. Their place is absolute shit, Nai. James and Katie share a room, they have no furniture, only mattresses on the floor and their clothes are just laid out in little piles on the ground because they have nowhere else to put it." The smile disappeared from my face when I heard how hard it must have been for Katie when she was living there. "I talked with James for a bit, and Katie packed up her stuff. Then we went out and attached it all to the scooter. Then I went back inside. I wanted to tell Mum and Dad that I would try and talk to Katie, make sure she knows that they still love her. You know, all that stuff. And so I go back inside and I tell them all that and Dad was pretty upset that Katie was leaving too; apparently he didn't even know that Mum had kicked her out. So Dad says to tell Katie that she is welcome to come home, whenever she wants to and that I am always welcome there as well. Then Mum comes out and says that I am not welcome there, not when I am with you. Then she says that it will only be a matter of time until me and you break up for good and she said that when that happens, and when I admit that I am not actually gay, then I can move back in with them. I asked why she would assume that me and you were going to break up and she brought up all the stuff about Sophia and said that it is only a matter of time until you cheat again. I got angry, said that you wouldn't do that again, she got angry at me, told me that I needed to grow up and stop messing around. It got out of control, I was about to leave she told me that I was stupid, I turned around and told her that a mother doesn't treat her kids the way she treats us and I said that she should try and be more like Gina and she lifted her hand to hit me. I tried to block it and dodge it but she got my arm. Bloody hard, too, fucking hurt. Anyway, then I just left. Didn't look back, just stormed out, got on the scooter and came home." There was a silent pause for a moment as I took in everything she had told me. I couldn't believe Jenna had actually hit her own daughter. I knew she hated that Emily was gay and I knew she didn't like me, or anything to do with me, but I never would have thought that she would actually hit Emily over it. I didn't really know what to say, so I just pulled Emily closer to me, letting her know that I had heard her and that I was there for her.

"Is your arm okay?" I asked her eventually. Emily rolled up her jacket sleeve and showed me where Jenna had hit her. There was a red hand-shaped mark and it was beginning to bruise. I brought her arm up to my lips and place soft kisses all over it, wishing I could kiss it away. Emily pulled her arm away and covered the mark again with her sleeve.

"I wish I had a Mum like yours," She eventually said, so quietly I could hardly hear her. "I mean I love my Mum, because she is my Mum, but I wish she could just accept me and Katie for who we are." I pulled Emily in to a hug.

"You know that my Mum is your Mum too. Mum has always seen you as a daughter. To be honest, I think she actually likes you more than me," I told her. Emily laughed and I smiled at the sound, glad that she was cheering up slightly. She seemed happier now that she had gotten everything off her chest.

We sat together for a while longer until we heard a knock on the bedroom door. "Ladies, if you're ready, dinner is served," we heard Cook call through the door. We thanked him and told him we would be right down. I hopped off the bed, pulled off my wet t-shirt, threw it in the hamper and walked to the wardrobe to find a dry one. I pulled one out of the draw and turned back to Emily, about to ask if she was okay, but was instead greeted by her eyes, open wide, staring at my half-naked torso. I stood still for a minute, waiting for her to realise that she was staring. She realised what she was doing and grinned, not even slightly embarrassed by being caught perving on me and jumped off the bed, stepped over to me and gently ran her fingers, across my stomach, over my ribs, before slipping around my back and pulling me in to a hug. I hugged her back, tight, as she continued to run her fingers lightly over my lower back, causing me to break out in goose bumps and shiver slightly. Emily laughed softly when she felt the effect she was having on me and pulled away. She leaned up and kissed me lightly on the lips.

"Thank you for listening to me and just being there for me," she told me. I smiled down at her.

"Wouldn't be anywhere else, babe," I pulled on the clean t-shirt and took her hand, entwined our fingers and brought it up to my lips, kissing her knuckles. "C'mon Emsy, lets go see what Cook and Katie's cooking skills are like." She smiled at me and led me out of the bedroom and down the stairs.

* * *

**Cook: **

It had probably been one of the most feminine days of my life. Katie had woken me up way earlier than I would have liked, telling me that we needed to go grocery shopping. I had tried explaining that I just don't do grocery shopping, especially not when I am so hung-over but Katie had dragged me along anyway, claiming that we owe Naomi and Emily for letting us stay with them. I guess she was right. I just didn't realise how shit it would be walking down aisle after aisle, trying to figure out what brand of pasta sauce is best value for how much is in the jar or how many chicken fillets we would need to feed four people. After much grumbling, Katie had eventually told me to go outside, have a fag and she would meet me outside when she was done. Four cigarettes later she came out, arms full of shopping bags. She passed me some of the bags and we began to walk home. I complained the whole way about the heavy bags, about my headache and about that fact that I was almost out of cigarettes because she had left me waiting outside for so long. I only stopped complaining when she promised to buy me another pack of smokes if I stopped. We stopped at the smoko near Naomi's house and Katie went inside and bought me a pack, telling me that she would let me have them on the condition I didn't smoke them inside the house and that I did whatever she told me to for the rest of the day without complaining. I agreed and she passed me the fags. I lit one up straight away, took a deep breath, taking pleasure in the feel of the smoke flowing through my lungs.

We finally made it back to Naomi's house, arms killing from carrying the stupid amount of shopping that Katie had bought all the way home. As soon as we got inside, Katie started unpacking the groceries. I moved to the fridge, pulled out a beer and was about to open it when Katie told me to clean up the dishes. I sighed, beginning to regret my decision to do whatever she said without complaining. I began to clean up the dishes and as soon as Emily and me had finished them, I went out to the yard for another smoke. It was stupid, Naomi and me had always smoked in the kitchen, but if Katie didn't want me to smoke in there anymore then I guess I would get used to smoking in the yard.

I came back inside a while later and saw Katie sitting on the sofa in the lounge room. I sat down next to her and she asked if I wanted to watch a movie with her. I agreed and let her pick the movie. I assumed that she would pick some girly movie, but figured I had no choice, seeing as she _had_ bought me the fags. She ended up putting on something called 'Mean Girls' or something like that. I wasn't really looking forward to watching it but at least I get to stare at a bunch of reasonably hot chicks for two hours, I thought. It ended up being hilarious. I laughed through the entire thing. Toward the end of the movie I turned to Katie, who was leaning on my shoulder, planning on making her swear not to tell anyone I actually enjoyed a chick flick, but saw that she was fast asleep on my shoulder. I gently moved my arm, wrapping it around her, allowing her to be more comfortable. The movie finished and I picked up the remote that was next to me and flicked the telly to some movie that was playing before Emily and Naomi came downstairs to find me watching a girly movie while Katie slept.

Emily and Katie went back to their parents place for a while and Naomi and I cleaned my room. Naomi even taught me how to use the washing machine. Yeah, like I would ever use that again. When Katie and Emily got back, Naomi and Emily disappeared up to their room and Katie and I started making dinner. I had no idea how to cook anything so Katie gave me the simple jobs. Peeling and dicing the onions and mushrooms, opening jars, stirring whatever she had begun to cook on the stove. When we were done I went up to get Naomi and Emily before coming back down and setting the kitchen table. I opened a bottle of wine at Katie's request and got out a beer for myself.

The dinner was amazing. Somehow, Katie had managed to take all the ingredients I had chopped and the jars I had opened and made it in to a fancy pasta with chicken and white sauce. It tasted incredible. Everybody loved it. The conversation flowed easily, everybody was happy, we laughed, we ate, and we drank. It was quite late by the time we had run out of things to talk about and Naomi and Emily offered to do the dishes so Katie and me went upstairs to fix up our bedroom. We put the clean sheets that Naomi had left for us on the mattress and tidied up the last few things that were left out. I left the room, allowing Katie to get changed for bed, coming back in when she called out to let me know she was decent. I pulled off my shoes, socks, pants and the t-shirt I had borrowed from Freddie that morning. I liked that shirt. I might just keep it, I though to myself. I chucked my clothes on the floor in the corner, and pulled on a pair of track pants, not sure how comfortable Katie would be with me sleeping in only my jocks.

I pulled a spare pillow off the mattress and set it on the floor, grabbing a spare blanket from the top shelf of the wardrobe. I settled down on the floor and pulled the blanket over me. I turned to Katie about to say goodnight when I saw her looking at me, confused. "What the fuck are you doing?" she asked me.

"I'm going to sleep, Katiekins. I'm fucking tired from all the work you made me do today."

She rolled her eyes. "I mean why are you sleeping on the floor instead of the bed, idiot."

"Oh. I guess I just didn't want to make you uncomfortable." I explained to her.

"Don't be stupid, Cook, it wont me uncomfortable." She pulled back the covers and I hopped on to the mattress and lied down. It was a lot more comfortable than the floor.

"Thanks Katie" I told her.

She smiled at me, "You're welcome. No spooning me though!" she warned.

I laughed, "Don't act like you don't want me to, Katiekins. I know you deliberately fell asleep on me today. Why don't you just admit it? You want me."

"Fuck off, Cook, or you can go back to sleeping on the floor."

We exchanged our goodnights and I was just falling asleep when I heard Emily and Naomi climbing the stairs, bumping in to the wall on their way past. I heard their bedroom door slam close, I heard the sound of bedsprings and then I heard the unmistakable sound of fucking. I hadn't realised how thin the walls in this house were and made a mental note to apologise to Emily and Naomi for telling Arsia the other day, rather loudly, to 'grab my balls'. The groaning from the other bedroom grew louder and when I heard Naomi begin to call out Emily's name I rolled over to look at Katie. She was staring at me, eyes wide, clearly horrified at hearing her sister pleasuring Naomi. I laughed at her face and she picked up a pillow and decked me with it. "It's not fucking funny, Cook! Stop laughing!" I stopped laughing and rolled off the mattress, out of reach of Katie's pillow and crawled to the CD player in the corner. I turned it on, switched it to radio and the sounds of The Drums filled the room. That would do. I turned up the volume, high enough to drown out the sex noises. I crawled back in to bed and smiled at Katie. "Thanks Cook." She said.

"No worries babe." I answered. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep now, after being woken up so suddenly. Katie didn't look like she would be able to sleep either, so I conjured up a set of cards and we began to play. We played about every game we knew of, talking about whatever we could think of. It was fun. It was easy to talk to Katie. She was actually really funny. I had never realised just how funny she actually was.

After playing cards and talking for almost two hours Katie started to yawn. I gathered the cards and put them next to the mattress. "Time to go to sleep, I think, Katiekins," I said, leaning over and ruffling her hair slightly. She slapped my hand away. I laughed and lied back down on the mattress, getting comfortable. I felt Katie lean toward me and I turned to look at her. She kissed me so lightly on the cheek that I hardly felt it.

"Thanks for distracting me, Cook. This was fun." She pulled away and rolled over, lying on the mattress, back toward me. I smiled and closed my eyes, finally settling in to a deep sleep, exhausted from the busy day.

* * *

**Sorry that one was a bit boring. I'll update again tomorrow probably. Might even add in a bit of fluff to keep it interesting ;) Review if you want. I'm happy to receive criticism as well as praise.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all the reviews and to nikinak13 for pointing out that I got Naomi and Emily's grade wrong. I just went by what year level I thought my friend said she was in when she moved here from England. Obviously I remembered wrong. Sorry for any other mistakes like that. Sometimes I forget about the differences between Australia and England. Also, nikinak13, hope to see some more of your stuff soon, very interested to see where you go with 'Goa'.**

**So here's the next chapter. Just a bit of a filer chapter before the real story starts. Basically all fluff and smut, hope you enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Emily:**

I woke up early on Monday morning, cuddled up with Naomi. I looked at the time. It wasn't even five am yet. I cuddled back up to Naomi, hoping to get back to sleep but knowing I wouldn't be able to. I lied there for a few minutes, gently tracing patterns on Naomi's bare skin, listening to her deep breathing. Part of me still couldn't believe that we were together again. I lied with Naomi for a while, enjoying the feel of our naked skin together. After a while I had to get up. I desperately needed to pee. I climbed out of bed, careful not to wake up Naomi and covered her over again with the blanket. I pulled on some knickers and one of Naomi's t-shirts and walked to the bathroom. I peed and washed my hands and face and walked back to the bedroom, stopping at the entrance to our room and leaning on the doorframe, watching my girl sleep. She looked so peaceful. I crossed to the window and looked out. It was still dark. I had an idea. I got dressed, pulling on some track pants and a thick jumper and some socks. I left the room quietly and went downstairs to the kitchen, fixing a thermos of hot coffee. I put the thermos, two mugs, and a full packet of Garibaldi's in a backpack. I found a picnic rug and a blanket and added those as well, struggling to do up the zip.

I went back up to the bedroom and pulled out some pants, a t-shirt, a jumper and some socks and shoes for Naomi. I knelt down beside her and gently woke her up. She opened her eyes and smiled at me, looking slightly confused when she realised I was fully dressed and the sun wasn't even up yet. "Fucking hell, Ems, it's only just gone five, what do you want?" the smile disappeared from her face and she lay back down in the bed, attempting to pull me back in with her. I smiled at her attempts and pulled back, slowly pulling the blanket away from her. She grumbled and tried to pull it back up but I wouldn't let her. I took her hands and pulled her in to a sitting position. I kissed her lightly on the lips. That seemed to cheer her up a bit. I put the pile of clothes next to here and stood up.

"Get dressed babe, we're going out." I told her.

She looked at me as if I were insane. "Where are we going to go this early?"

"It's a surprise. Just get dressed. The sooner you are ready the sooner you will find out," I told her, as I moved around the room, getting a couple of scarves, Naomi's favourite beanie, as well as a beanie for me, and finding two large jackets. I didn't want us to be cold. Naomi finally seemed to take an interest and got dressed.

Once she was fully clothed she left the room, stating that she needed to use the bathroom. I went downstairs, scribbling a quick note telling Cook and Katie where we were going and waited for Naomi at the foot of the stairs. She came stumbling down them a few minutes later, rubbing her eyes, clearly still trying to wake up. I took her hand and led her out the front door. We stopped in front of my scooter and I passed her one of the jackets. She put it on and zipped it up. I then passed her my backpack and she put it over her shoulders. I put her helmet on her head and did it up for her and gave her a quick peck on the lips. She looked so cute all rugged up, still sleepy-eyed from being woken up so early, after only a few hours of sleep. I put on a jacket for myself, put on my helmet and goggles and climbed on my scooter. Naomi climbed on behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. I smiled as I felt her instinctively rubbing the front of my stomach, like she always had every time we rode together. I started off down the street and drove for a few minutes. Eventually Naomi must have realised where we were going because I heard a little "Oh." In my ear and she squeezed me a little tighter, her best attempt at a hug without distracting me from my driving. I parked at the start of the path and we got off the scooter. I took the bag from Naomi and put it on my back instead. Naomi took my hand, entwining our fingers and we set off down the path that led to our lake. Well not _our_ lake, but the lake we had often gone to last summer. The lake where we had made love for the first time.

I looked over at Naomi as we started the short walk to the lake and was pleased when I saw that she had a slight smile on her face. She saw me looking at her and she pulled our hands to her lips, kissing the back of my hand, before letting go and wrapping her arm around my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her waist and we continued to walk. It made it harder to walk, and we stumbled occasionally in the dark, but it was worth it and eventually we made it to the bottom of the path.

We walked to the edge of the lake and I pulled the picnic rug out of the bag and set it on the ground. I instructed Naomi to sit down and she did, spreading her legs out in front of her, crossed at the ankle and leaning back on her arms. She smiled up at me as I continued to pull things out of the bag. I chucked her a scarf and her beanie, since it was freakin cold right next to the water. She put them on and I couldn't help but smile at how adorable she looked. She looked like a five year old kid, rugged up to play in the snow. She had an excited look on her face. The look she got every time we came here, thinking about times we had spent here before, looking forward to making new memories. I pulled on my own beanie and scarf, set the thermos and food down on the rug and sat down next to her, pulling the blanket over our laps.

I poured us each a cup of coffee and snuggled against her, enjoying the feel of her arms around me as we watched the beautiful view. We sat on the rug, holding each other, kissing occasionally and watching as the sun rose, slowly filling our little sanctuary with light. The sun reflected of the water and the droplets of dew all around us. Eventually it began to warm up and we started to shed our layers. We threw the blanket aside and slowly began to ditch our scarves, beanies, and coats, until we were just in our pants, t-shirts and jumpers. We continued to hold each other, slowly working our way through the coffee and Garibaldi's. Naomi had laughed when I pulled those out. She ate them everyday and she never got sick of them. We didn't say much; we didn't need to. We just sat and appreciated the view.

We sat there for a few hours, me sitting between Naomi's legs. Naomi had her arms wrapped around me, hands clasped in front of my stomach, my hands resting lightly on top of hers. I felt Naomi's hand slide from where it rested, over my stomach and she placed it lightly on my tit. I smiled to myself, knowing where this was leading, but didn't show any reaction. Naomi rested her hand on my tit for a minute, clearly waiting to see if I would make the next move, and when I didn't she squeezed it gently. I still didn't react and she began to slowly massage my breast. I was starting to get turned on but I was in a bit of a teasing mood, so I deliberately sat still, as if her touch wasn't affecting me. She ran her other hand up my arm, fingers tickling me softly and began to nibble softly on my neck. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to ignore what my girlfriend was doing to me. She continued kissing my neck and massaging my breast, as her other hand wandered all over my hair, shoulder, breast, stomach and down my thigh. It was getting hard for me not to react and when I felt her begin to run her tongue over my throat I inhaled sharply. Naomi laughed softly in my ear. "I knew I would get to you eventually," she whispered.

"You didn't get to me," I lied.

"Uh-huh. What was with the breath then?" she asked me, amused.

"I just had to take a deep breath, that's all." I told her, wanting her to go back to what she was doing.

We settled back down and, thankfully, Naomi continued to do what she was doing. And I continued to ignore her. Well, I tried to ignore her, at least. I was successful for a few minutes, until she suddenly reached lower than she been, stuck her hands right inside my pants, down my knickers and cupped my hot centre, in one quick motion. With that, I couldn't stand it anymore. I turned around and pushed her backwards so she was lying on the rug on her back. I straddled her and kissed her hard on the lips, forcing my tongue inside her mouth straight away. We kissed passionately for a few minutes, hands running all over each other's bodies. With Naomi's hand no longer down my pants I began to be able to think clearly again and it wasn't long before my teasing streak came back. I pulled away from Naomi and sat cross-legged on the rug next to her. She looked up at me, shocked that I pulled away from her. She sat up and crawled to where I was sitting began to kiss my neck again, like she knew I loved. I wasn't giving in this time though. I let her kiss me for a few minutes, before standing and facing her. I slowly pulled my jumper over my head and pulled my pants off. She smiled at me, watching me strip, clearly thinking I had given in. I pulled off my t-shirt and resisted laughing at her amazed face when she realised I wasn't stopping there. I pulled off my bra and knickers and threw them on top of the pile of clothes. She crawled toward me, and began to reach out for me, licking her lips at the sight of me completely naked before her. Just as she was about to reach me I took a step back, turned and jumped straight in to the lake.

The water was quite warm today, having had the morning sun shining directly on it, heating up the water. I came up to the surface and looked at Naomi. She did not look impressed. "Fucking hell, Emily, stop being such a tease!" I laughed at her.

"You could always come and join me," I told her.

She shook her head. "Nope. I'm angry at you. I'm staying right here." I swam over to the edge and held on to the side.

"C'mon babe, the water's lovely. Come and have a swim with me."

I saw Naomi's face soften slightly as she considered having a naked swim with me. "Nope, still not coming in," she said. I frowned at her. This was not going to plan. I splashed some water to where she was sitting, getting her quite wet.

"You might as well come in now, you're wet anyway."

Naomi laughed and gave in, "Fine. If you want me to come in so badly I will." I grinned as Naomi began to strip off. She hesitated when she got to her bra and knickers. She always felt slightly uncomfortable when she wasn't wearing much around here. She worried that someone would come along and see us.

I pulled myself up on the edge slightly, so that Naomi could see the top half of my naked body. "Just take them off, Naoms, no-one ever comes here." I told her. It was true. Out of all the times we had been here, we had never seen another person. Naomi stripped off her underwear and quickly dove in to the water. I swam over to where I knew she would come up. She wrapped her arms around my naked torso and kissed me. I stayed like that for a bit, treading water and kissing, until our legs got tired and we swam over to the edge, held on to the stone wall and started kissing once more. Naomi's hands were running all over my body, and mine over hers. I pulled Naomi closer to me and she wrapped her legs around my waist. I put one hand around her back, holding her up, as she ran both her hands over my back. I kissed down Naomi's neck, leaving a mark and started running my free hand up her thigh. I was just about to slip my hand between our bodies, in to Naomi's centre when I heard a voice. Naomi pulled away from me incredibly fast and we looked around to see where the voice had come from. We couldn't see anybody, but it sounded like the voices were coming from the path that we had come from earlier, which meant that any minute they would come around the bend and see us.

We quickly climbed out of the lake, grabbed our clothes, the blanket, picnic rug, backpack and thermos and sprinted in to the trees. We had just made it to the tree line when four boys, who looked about 15 or 16, came around the bend. We looked at each other silently, both thankful that the boys hadn't seen us, and very quietly we walked a bit deeper in to the forest, where we knew we couldn't be seen. Once we were among the thick trees, we used the blanket to dry ourselves off slightly, no longer having the sun to dry us naturally. We put on our clothes, giggling at almost being caught and we packed up our belongings and headed back toward the path and to the scooter.

As funny as it was, I was a little disappointed that our outing hadn't turned out the way I had planned. I turned to Naomi as I put on my helmet. "Sorry that didn't turn out the way I planned." I told her

"That's fine babe," Naomi said, leaning in and pecking me on the lips. I turned around and was about to climb on the scooter when I heard he behind me, "I don't mind where I fuck you."

I was slightly shocked at her comment; she didn't often say things like that. I started teasing her slightly again. I must have been in an annoying mood. I leaned in so that my lips were right next to her ear. "Who said I wanted you to fuck me anyway?" I whispered. I pulled away and climbed on to the scooter. She pulled her helmet on and climbed on behind me.

"I know you wanted me to, hun. You can't resist me." She said, confidently.

"Of course I can resist you. I don't need you to make me feel alright."

"Hmm, see, that's where I think you're wrong," she told me.

"Want a bet?" I asked her

"Do I ever!" She said, "I think you might regret saying that, babe."

I pulled away from the curb and began to drive home, knowing full well that I would regret what I had said. Then again, when I made bets like that with Naomi, it didn't matter whether I won or lost, I always ended up coming out of it pretty well-off.

* * *

**Naomi:**

Well it had certainly been an interesting morning. I had been slightly annoyed at Emily for waking me up so early but when I found out what her plan was my anger had quickly disappeared. It had been a perfect morning. Well, perfect until Emily got me so fucking turned on and then we had to bolt. Even that hadn't been so bad. Yeah, we had almost been caught making out, naked in the lake by a bunch of teenage boys, and yeah, we had to run in to the forest, still naked, so that none of them saw us, but in a way it was pretty funny. We had stood among the trees, laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation we had found ourselves in for a few minutes, until I picked up the blanket and wrapped it around mine and Emily's wet, naked bodies. We had stood like that, wrapped up together, kissing softly for a few minutes until I felt Emily begin to shiver from the cold. I pulled away from her and used the blanket to dry her off as best I could. I then dried myself off and we put our clothes back on and headed back to the scooter.

I walked a little bit away from Emily as we walked along the path, allowing myself to cool off a bit from getting so turned on. I walked a few steps behind her, watching her as we walked. I watched the way the sun reflected of her bright, wet hair, the way her t-shirt pulled slightly tight across her perfect shoulders, the way her shirt had ridden up slightly, exposing a tiny strip of skin on her lower back. I have no idea how someone is able to look so incredibly sexy wearing track pants and a t-shirt. She does though. It never matters what she's wearing, she has got to be the most beautiful person in the world. My eyes drifted further south and I found myself staring at her arse. Her hips were swaying slightly as she walked and I found myself unable to look away. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw her turn back to look at me, and I looked up to meet her eyes. She had a slight smile on her lips and winked at me. Damn. She had caught me staring. She turned back and kept walking. This time though, she began to sway her hips even more, knowing that I would be staring again. That girl, I decided, deserves to be punished. I took a few quick steps to catch up with her and took her hand. We walked like that, side by side until we reached the place where we had left the scooter.

The ride home was fairly uneventful. I sat as far back on the seat as I could so that our bodies were hardly touching. I rested my hands lightly on her hips instead of wrapping my arms around her stomach like I usually did. When we got back to the house I jumped off before Emily had even taken the keys out. I walked to the front door and entered the house, leaving Emily to bring in our stuff. I walked in to the front room and sat on the lounge. I couldn't see Cook or Katie around. I figured they had gone out or were still in bed. It was still quite early, after all. Emily walked in dumped the bag by the foot of the stairs and came and sat down next to me. She looked at me and I knew she was thinking about the bet we had made at the scooter. I pretended like I didn't notice and reached forward and picked up the telly remote from the coffee table. I flicked on the TV and settled on some documentary that I didn't care about and that I knew Emily would hate. I made myself comfortable, pulling my legs up on to the couch beside me and pretended to care about what I was watching. Emily sighed when she saw that I intended to watch the show and she settled in beside me, cuddling in to my side watching the TV. Knowing Emily, she would only last a few minutes before she gave up on it and moved on to more interesting things. Sure enough, we hadn't even made it to the first ad break when I felt her run her hand up my thigh and begin to kiss my neck. I pretended like I didn't care. "Em, did you hear that? Apparently in Antarctica during the feeding season, Blue Whales eat 4million krill every day for six months and then they don't eat anything for months. Don't you think that's interesting?"

"For fucks sake Naoms, no, I don't think that's interesting! Would you just turn the telly off now?" Emily said, clearly frustrated that I wasn't showing an interest in her.

"No, I'm watching this. It's really interesting. Did you know that ice fish have no hemoglobin in their blood to carry oxygen around? But it doesn't matter because the temperature in Antarctica is so low and oxygen dissolves better in cold temperatures so the fish just have a larger amount of clear blood instead and that's why they are a weird ghostly white colour." I told her, managing to keep a straight face, as she got even more frustrated with me.

"Bitch," Emily muttered quietly as she settled back down, resting in to me once again.

"I heard that," I said as I wrapped my arm around her.

"Yeah, you were supposed to…" she answered grumpily.

We sat on the sofa together for a while longer, me pretending to be interested in the show about Antarctica, her playing with a few lose threads on my pants. Eventually, as I knew she would, she slowly ran her hand up my leg and began to softly stroke my upper thigh. She began to place kisses on my arm but I continued to keep my eyes on the television, trying to ignore her. She worked her way up and kissed me on the cheek, along my jaw, on my chin and on the corner of my mouth. Just as she was about to kiss me on the lips I pulled away and turned my head. "Em, can you move please, I can't see the TV." I told her, pushing her away slightly.

"Fucking hell Naomi! We both know you don't give a shit about that show."

"Of course I care about it! The place is melting; climate change is ruining the earth! If we don't do something about it then in a few-" I was cut off by Emily kissing me hard on the lips. I kissed back for a second before pulling away and turning back to the TV.

"Naomi, I know you're just doing this to pay me back. You've done enough. C'mon, lets just go upstairs." Emily said, practically begging. I wasn't finished yet though; I wanted this to last a while longer still.

"You can go upstairs if you like but I'm watching this."

"I don't want to go upstairs by myself, I want you to come with me."

"Why?" I asked her, knowing full well what her answer was going to be.

"I have a couple of ideas," Emily said, kissing my neck seductively.

"Yeah, like what?" I asked, still looking at the telly.

"Well I was thinking we could have a repeat of last night… Maybe pick up where we left off at the lake…" I couldn't help but smile at the memory of last night. It had been incredible. Cook and Katie must have copped an earful. Not that I cared about that… It's our house after all.

"Hmm, maybe later babe. Beside, you said you can do it without me."

"Naomi, you know I was only kidding. I don't want to do it without you. I can't do it without you."

"Well that's not what you said earlier. You said you didn't want me to fuck you. So I might as well just sit here and enjoy my documentary."

"Fucks sake, Naomi! I told you I was kidding! I do want you to fuck me. I want to go upstairs and make love for the rest of the day!" I swallowed hard, feeling myself get wet as I thought of us fucking all day, while she continued to kiss my neck. I didn't say anything, just continued to watch the TV. Well, when I say 'watch' I mean stare at it while having mental images of me and Emily tangled up in the sheets. "Fuck it." Emily said. She grabbed the remote and turned the television off. All of a sudden she was on my lap, straddling me. I straightened my legs out and Emily placed her hand on my neck and pulled me in to a passionate kiss. There was no way I could resist her anymore. I wrapped my arms around her body and pulled her tight to me, kissing her back. I felt her tongue slide across my lip and I opened my mouth, allowing her tongue to enter. We continued to kiss for a minute and I shifted slightly so that one of my thighs was directly underneath her. I bumped it up in to her centre and I felt her gasp in to the kiss. After another few moments she began to pull her body away from mine, slowly standing but still bent at the waist so we could keep kissing. "I'm going upstairs," she said sexily, pulling out of the kiss. I watched as she walked up the stairs, swaying her hips slightly more than she normally would. I sat there for a minute, giving myself a moment to calm down. I had every intention on going upstairs and fucking her good and proper, I just wanted to make her wait for a minute. Make her worry. Make her want it more.

After a few minutes I got up off the sofa and climbed the stairs. I opened the bedroom door and my eyes widened as I took in the sight before me. Emily was lying on our unmade bed, completely naked. She was lying on her side, her head resting on her hand, her other hand slowly stroking between her wide-open legs. I stood there for a moment watching her, feeling myself getting incredibly wet at the sight of my girlfriend touching herself. "You gonna join me, or what?" Emily asked me eventually. I smiled, grabbed the bottom of my t-shirt and pulled it over my head. I kicked off my shoes and pulled off my socks and then my pants. I stood before her in just my bra and knickers and let her look at me for a moment. "Take off the rest," she told me. I slowly reached around my back and undid my bra, allowing the straps to slip off my shoulders and fall to the ground. I took my knickers off and slowly crawled on to the bed. I pushed Emily slightly so that she was lying on her back and I kissed her long and soft. I held myself up above her, one arm resting next to her head the other slowly drifting down her body to where her fingers were playing with herself. I replaced her fingers with my own and began to slowly circle her clit. She was so wet already. I felt her arms snake around my neck pulling me closer to her. I slowly lowered my body so that my top half was lying on top of hers. She became more and more breathless as we continued kissing and I kept touching her. I could feel her heartbeat growing faster and I knew that she could probably feel mine as well. Both out of breath, I pulled away from the kiss and moved down her neck until I reached her breasts. I kissed each of them softly before licking around her nipples and putting my mouth around one of them, sucking gently. I loved Emily's tits. They were the perfect size, perfect shape. I slowly slipped one of my fingers inside her and began to curl it, causing her hips to buck suddenly. I slid in another finger and began to move them in and out slowly. When I had come in, I had every intention of just fucking her senseless, but it felt nicer going slow. I wasn't trying to tease her; I just wanted it to be good for her. I wanted it to last. I wanted her to feel how much I loved her.

I continued to move my fingers slowly inside her, moving across to her other breast and repeating my actions. She was writhing beneath me and I knew she wanted more but I was determined not to rush. She wrapped her hand around my still damp hair and I felt her trying to pull me up to her lips. I reluctantly left her heaving chest and kissed her long and hard on the lips. I then moved to her neck and began to suck, probably leaving a mark. Emily's hands were still in my hair, holding me tight to her. I pulled back and looked her in the eyes. They were dark, pupils dilated, full of need. "Naoms, please. I need you." I gave her a quick peck on the lips before moving down her body, unable to deny her request.

I settled myself between her legs, fingers still pumping in and out of her, though slightly faster now. I leant my head forward and breathed in her scent. There is nothing like it in the world. I kissed around her pussy lips, and felt her hand, still tangled in my hair, pushing me further in to her, to where she wanted me. I circled her clit with my tongue a few times before sucking on it and adding a third finger. I continued like this for a while until I knew she wouldn't be able to take it much longer. "Harder." I heard her gasp. "I need more." I moved my fingers in and out of her faster and harder and began to suck harder on her clit. I knew she was close now. Her body was shaking and her grip on my hair had tightened. I felt her body tense up for a moment and her walls clamp down on my fingers as her orgasm began to take over her body. Her hips bucked up in to my face and I continued to lick and suck her, still pumping my fingers in and out slowly as her entire body shook and convulsed. Just as she was beginning to come down and relax I began to pump my fingers again, curling them as I did so. Her body began to shake again, as I brought her to another climax almost straight away. She came hard in my mouth and I made sure nothing went to waste.

I slowly made my way back up her body and she pulled me in to a kiss, her body still shaking slightly from the high. I removed my fingers from her and she took my hand, pulled my fingers in to her mouth and sucked them clean. The sight was almost enough to make me come right then and there and I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. She released my fingers and wrapped her arms around me, pulling me down so that I was lying right on top of her, between her wide-open legs. We lay like that for a while, content to simply hold each other.

"I love you," I heard her whisper in my ear, "I love you so, so much."

"I know," I answered. "I love you too. More than I can say. More than I ever imagined I would be able to love anyone. Thank you."

Emily pulled back slightly and looked at me, stroking my face gently. "For what?" She asked.

"For coming back to me," I said, as Emily softly ran her fingers over my lips, "For taking me out this morning. For loving me…" Emily smiled at me and pulled me in to a kiss. It was a beautiful, long, romantic kiss. It said more than words could ever explain. We held each other a while longer before Emily rolled me over and rested her body on top of mine, proceeding to make perfect, passionate love to me. It still amazed me that she had the power to make me come undone. It didn't scare me anymore though. I loved it. I loved that she had the ability to make me feel like I had never felt before.

We continued to make passionate love to each other for the rest of the morning and a good part of the afternoon, before collapsing in a heap, still wrapped up in each other, exhausted from our early start and tiresome activities. We must have fallen asleep at some stage because all of a sudden, I was woken up by someone barging in to the room, not bothering to knock.

* * *

**And so ends chapter 5. Hope it was okay. Might be a couple of days before I update again, I'm not very well and I have a busy few days ahead so not much time for writing.**


	6. Chapter 6

**So here's chapter 6, for your enjoyment (hopefully). Thanks for the reviews. I know everybody says this, but it really is what makes me keep writing, so keep them coming :)**

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**Chapter 6**

**Katie:**

"Fucksake" I mumbled, rolling over and trying to find the source of the buzzing that had woken me up so early. I pulled my i-phone out of my bag. It wasn't ringing. "Fucking hell" I said, rolling back on to the mattress, hoping to get few more hours sleep after mine and Cook's late night last night. Then I heard the buzzing again. "Jesus Christ. Cook, your pissing phone is going off." I nudged Cook in the ribs in an attempt to wake him up. "Cook! Answer your fucking phone!" I said, louder this time and nudging him again, harder. Yeah, never wake me up before I'm ready.

"I'm sleeping Katiekins, answer it yourself." Cook mumbled sleepily, rolling over in to a new position.

"For fucksake." I crawled over Cook, lying across his chest as I looked for his phone. I found his phone next to his side of the mattress. Freddie. I pushed myself off of Cook, elbowing him in the balls as I did so. Cook cried out in pain and grabbed his privates. "Hey Freds, what's up?" I asked, answering the phone.

"Oh hi Katie, is Cook around?" he asked

I looked over at Cook, curled up in a ball, still holding his nuts, looking like he was trying not to cry. "He's just a bit busy at the moment." I told Freddie. Cook looked over at me.

"Fucking bitch," he said, "what the fuck did the Cookie Monster do to deserve that?"

"You deserved it, you lazy bugger." I told him, before returning my attention to Freddie.

"Okay, well me and Eff are just hanging out today, we thought you and Cook might want to join us. You can invite Emily and Naomi if you want to as well." He told me.

"Yeah, that sounds good. We'll be over around 10."

"Great, see you then, Katie."

"Yeah, see you" I hung up the phone and looked at Cook. "We are going to Freddie's at ten. Make sure you're ready." I told him.

"You're so fucking demanding. Christ, I'm glad I'm not your boyfriend."

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you're not my boyfriend too. Now go take a shower, you fucking stink"

I went downstairs to make some coffee and saw a note with Emily's handwriting on the kitchen table. _Gone to the lake, probably wont be home for a while. Help yourself to anything you find in the kitchen. See you later. Ems xoxo_

Those girls were crazy. Who goes to a lake this early in the morning? I set about making a cup of coffee for myself, strong, in an attempt to make up for the lack of sleep I had got last night. I had just poured myself a cup when Cook came downstairs a towel wrapped around his waist. I stood up from the kitchen table and got out another mug to pour Cook a cup. "Here, I made you a cup of coffee," I said, turning around, expecting him to be standing in the kitchen. He wasn't there. "Cook?" I called to him.

"Yeah?" I heard him reply from the laundry room

"I made you coffee"

"Oh great, thanks." He said, as he walked out of the laundry completely starkers.

"What the fuck Cook? Put some clothes on!" I cried, turning around to avoid seeing more than I already had.

"Sorry babe, I needed to get some clean underwear from down here." He said, chuckling, taking the cup of coffee from my hand.

"Well you could have put them on before you came out here. Or at least warned me to close my eyes or something!"

"Why would you want to close your eyes, Katiekins? Don't act like you didn't like what you saw."

"I'm going to take a shower." I said, walking out, leaving him naked in the kitchen. I guess that would just be something I would need to get used to, having a male roommate. On the plus side, he had been very quick in the shower so there was still plenty of hot water for me.

I took a shower and got dressed in skinny jeans and a tank top and cardigan. That was the good thing about just hanging out with Effy and Freddie. I didn't feel like I needed to dress to impress them anymore. Effy could see through all that anyway, and after me and Freddie had got over the whole 'he-fucked-Effy-while-he-was-still-with-me' deal, we had actually become quite good friends. At 9:50 Cook and me left the house and headed toward Freddie's shed.

I pushed open the door to the shed to find Freddie lounged across the old sofa, Effy practically lying on top of him, snogging each other's faces off. "Fucking hell, I thought coming here without Naomi and Emily meant I was getting away from seeing people macking all the time." I said, half jokingly. I didn't want to see them making out right on front of me, but it wasn't as disturbing as walking in and seeing Emily and Naomi going at it, which had happened on the odd occasion. Effy and Freddie jumped apart as soon as they heard me speak, sitting on far ends of the sofa.

"Jesus christ, could you have opened the door any quieter?" Freddie asked, a slightly guilty look on his face as he saw Cook. I looked around at Cook. He looked a bit hurt but was clearly trying not to show it. He went and sat in the old rickety arm chair and I moved over to the couch, nudging Effy slightly so that she moved closer to Freddie so that I could sit down too, but wouldn't be squished between the love birds.

After I sat down Effy wrapped her arm around me and squeezed me slightly in a sideways, one-armed hug. I leant my head on her shoulder, my best attempt at reciprocating the hug when both of my arms were stuck by my sides. I don't really know when or how it had happened, but sometime over the last year we had become quite good friends.

I guess it started after that shitty hens night. The one with Brandy and her friend that I had decked in the face. Effy had been there for me when no one else really was. She didn't even really do anything; she just sat with me and gave me a spliff. Even after that we still weren't that close. We got a long, but we weren't really friends. But then the day of the parade, when she found me, and she looked so broken and so hurt… My heart just went out to her, like it hasn't done for anyone else before.

She had always been so confident, so strong. And now she wasn't. Even before we met at college I had heard of Effy Stonem. Everyone told stories about her and her brother. And when I met her on our first day at Roundview I had felt so threatened by her. She was the cool, popular one. At school, I was always the popular one. I was worried that she would take that away from me and without my popular, confident, bitchy façade, I didn't know who I was. So I tried to be friends with her. That didn't go down so well. She ended up leaving me half dead in the woods and going off and fucking my boyfriend. I know I brought it on myself but it still fucking sucked.

I knew what it was like to have to put on a brave face. I knew what it was like to feel like there was no one there, and that no one cared when you realise that everything you love and everything you hoped for was no longer a reality. And so when I saw Effy in the crowd, tears streaming down her face, looking like her whole world was falling down around her, there was nothing I could do but hold her tight and try to fix her.

And then I screwed everything up.

When we went to visit Freddie's Grandpa and, without even thinking about it, I let Effy go in to the toilet on her own and she slit her wrists… it was possibly one of the lowest moment of my life. It had been shit when I found out I couldn't have kids, and it had been shit when my Mum wasn't there for me, and when I wasn't getting along with Emily. But they didn't even measure up to how I felt when I saw Effy, sitting on the bathroom floor, in a puddle of blood, knife by her side. I know neither she, nor Freddie ever blamed for letting her go in to the toilet by herself. I did though. In my eyes, it was my fault that she tried to kill herself. I know I wasn't the reason she did it, but I pretty much helped her do it.

So from then on I decided that I wasn't going to let all the shit that had gone on between us in our first year of college come between us anymore. I would be there by her side as often as I could. She didn't really need me there, I knew that Freddie and her Mum cared about her, but I needed to do it for me. I needed to prove to myself that I was still useful for some things. So I sat by her when she was in hospital, I visited her at home, I let her talk to me about whatever she wanted. I spent days at a time just sitting by her hospital bed. Freddie and me used to take it in turns to stay over so that there would always be someone there with her. And sometime over those weeks she had become my best friend.

"Katie? Are you even listening to what we're saying?" Cook's voice brought me back to the conversation. I had no idea what they were talking about.

"Sorry. What were you saying?" I asked them

"We think we should go out tonight. All of us; me, you, Eff, Cook, Emily, Naomi, JJ, Lara, Panda and Thomas." Freddie explained

"Hit up Uncle Keith's pub and then move on to some clubs or something. What do you think Katiekins? You up for a night out?" Cook asked.

"Yeah, definitely. We haven't been clubbing for ages." I answered, keenly.

Cook and Freddie continued to talk about their plans for tonight, trying to decide whether to get some of Uncle Keith's special blend or try and get their hands on some top grade weed. Effy took my hand and squeezed it gently. "You okay?" she asked, "You seem kind of distracted."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about things." I assured her. She looked at me, a concerned look on her face. She knew better than anyone how much it hurt that I wasn't able to have kids and I knew she worried about me sometimes.

"Are you sure? Do you want to talk about anything?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm fine, really." I leant over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "Thanks." I told her. She smiled back at me but didn't say anything.

We sat in Freddie's shed a while longer, until Cook and Freddie decided they were going to go for a walk and get some drinks so that we could start the drinking early at the shed before going to Keith's pub. Effy and me sat on the sofa, Effy's head resting lightly on my shoulder. We sat in a comfortable silence for a while until Effy eventually spoke. "He's still not over me, is he?"

"Huh?" I asked, not knowing who she was talking about or where that had come from.

"Cook. He's still not over me." She explained bluntly.

"Oh. Yeah. I guess not." I answered, not really knowing what to say. It was pretty clear after Arsia, and then the look on Cook's face when we walked in that he wasn't completely over Effy. I didn't want to say that though, it would just make her feel bad. "Just give him some time. He knows you love Freddie and he knows that Freddie loves you and he's okay with that. Eventually he'll move on."

"Well hopefully sharing a bed with you might speed the process up a bit," Effy said, laughing.

"Fuck off. There's no chance in hell of that happening."

"He's not so bad. He can be quite soft when he lets you in."

"Yeah, I know. I just don't see him that way and never will. Trust me." I assured her.

We sat quietly for a while longer. It wasn't awkward. We had got used to silence when Effy had been in hospital. Eventually Effy turned and looked up at me "Do you want to tell me what you were thinking about earlier?" she asked me

"It was nothing Eff, really." I told her

"It didn't seem like nothing. You don't seem like yourself today. You're so quiet."

I laughed. "You're one to talk Eff. Actually, no, you're not, that's the point."

Effy laughed before turning serious again. "You just seem a bit out of it. Not like you."

"I guess there's just lots going on at the moment." I said, "Things with Mum are shit, and I know something's not right with Emily and Mum but she wouldn't tell me what it was so I don't know how to help her."

"Emily's a big girl, Katie, she can take care of herself."

"That's the thing though. I don't know that she can. Not properly. I always took care of her. I know I didn't do it in the best way, but I was always the one that looked after her. And now she doesn't let me do that anymore, which I understand, I just worry about her. She's been screwed up this year. She really let everything get fucked up. I just don't want her to get hurt again."

"She's back with Naomi now. They have sorted things out, like we always knew they would. She has Naomi there to help her when she needs it. It's not always up to you to fix everyone's problems, Katie." Effy said, putting her arms around me.

"I know that, but she's my little sister. I have to take care of her. And you're my best friend. I need to take care of you."

"Katie, you don't need to look after me. I know I have needed you to in the past but I'm getting better. Really. And I have Freds and my Mum to help me. You're just going to burn yourself out if you keep worrying about people like this."

I didn't say anything. I knew she was right. I couldn't just stop worrying about them. Emily and Effy meant the world to me. Without them I had nothing. No close family, no real friends, no future. Nothing.

"Katie, you know I'm never going to leave you, right?" How the frick does she always know what I'm thinking? I didn't say anything. Part of me knew that she wouldn't leave but part of me worried that she might. Everyone always left. My Mum is never there for me. Emily left. I know she said she would never really leave me, but she did. She spent all her time with Naomi and then even when she wasn't with Naomi she wasn't with me. She wasn't really anywhere. She just existed. All my boyfriends had either dumped me or I dumped them. I never had any real close friends. I only had friends for convenience, to maintain my popular status.

"Katie, I promise. I can't explain how much you have helped me these last couple of months. If it weren't for you I probably wouldn't even be here." I pulled her in tight to me. I didn't like thinking about her not being around. We sat like that for a while, letting each other know silently that we would always be there. That we loved each other.

The boys came back a while later and we hung out all together, talking and mucking around. Just having fun like people who have just finished college are meant to. We stayed until 5, deciding that me and Cook better head home to have some food and get ready before we met back at the shed for drink at 7:30.

When we got back to the house Cook went out the back for a smoke and I went upstairs to look through my clothes, trying to find something that wasn't too creased from stuffing it in my bags yesterday and not unpacking everything yet. After sorting through everything and finding nothing appropriate, I decided to go to Emily's room and raid her closet. I crossed the landing and barged in to Emily and Naomi's room, figuring if I was quick I could go through all of their clothes before they got home and they wouldn't even know.

I took a step in to the room and heard a shuffling. "Jesus Christ Katie! Learn to knock would you!"

* * *

**Emily:**

"Jesus Christ Katie! Learn to knock would you!" I cried as my sister barged in to the room, disturbing Naomi and me from our post-coital napping. Naomi scrambled to try and grab the sheet that was tangled with the quilt at our feet. When she couldn't get it quickly I rolled over her, covering her naked body. It didn't really matter if Katie saw me anyway. I mean we shared a room for 17 years, I'm pretty sure she's seen me naked hundreds of times. And I was pretty sure that both Katie and Naomi would be pretty unimpressed if Katie saw Naomi lying there completely starkers. I reached down with one hand and managed to pull up the sheet so that we were both covered.

"Katie it's okay, you can turn around now, we're covered." I said to Katie when I saw her facing the window, her back to us. She turned slowly as if she didn't believe us and breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw that we were, in fact, covered up.

"Bloody hell, next time just call out or something when you here me get home so I know you're here, yeah?" she said

"Katie, this is our house, just assume that we are home unless we tell you otherwise." I told her

"You did tell me otherwise, you left a note saying you were going to the lake!"

"That was like 12 hours ago Katie."

"Yeah well where's your scooter? It wasn't out the front." Katie argued, not willing to admit that she was in the wrong.

"I parked it around the side, where I almost always park it." I argued back.

"Well maybe next time at least keep a sheet over you so that if I do come in to your room I don't have to see that again!"

"Well maybe you should make sure you-"

"Fucking hell, both of you shut up!" Naomi said, cutting our argument short. "Jesus Christ, is it always going to be like this with both of you living here?"

"Sorry Naoms," I told her, leaning over and giving her a kiss on the lips.

"Uhh guys, I'm still in here, don't start anything yeah?" Katie said, walking over to the wardrobe that Naomi and I shared and having a look in it.

"Yeah, well maybe you hurry the fuck up and pick something and get out so that you can be out of here before we start." Naomi said, always trying to make Katie feel uncomfortable.

"Sorry, no can do. We're going out so you have to get up and get ready." Katie said, still rifling through my clothes.

"Who says we are going out?" I asked her. I had rather been looking forward to a night in with Naomi. I know, I'm getting soft and boring. But still, we hadn't been back together long. We were still in the honeymoon stage and I had hoped to be spending it alone.

"Me. And Cook. And Effy and Freddie. All of us are going out. Panda and Thomas are coming too and JJ said he and Lara would come if his parents agreed to babysit Albert for them. We're meeting at Freddie's and then going to Keith's and then on to a club or two. So get you're lazy arses out of bed and go and take a shower because you stink. This whole room stinks. No guesses what you guys have been up to all day." Katie picked out some of my clothes and left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Well I guess we're going out then." I said, turning to Naomi, "Does that suit you?" I asked

"Well it's not exactly what I had in mind for us tonight, but it might be fun." She stood up and pulled the sheet around her, holding her arms out to me for a hug. I crawled across the bed and knelt on the edge, wrapping my arms around my girlfriend. She put her arms around my shoulders and wrapped us both up in the sheet. We stayed like that for a moment, enjoying the embrace before Naomi pulled back slightly. I climbed down off the bed and kissed her lightly on the lips, both of us still wrapped up in the big sheet.

"C'mon," I said, "Lets go have a shower." I led her out of the room, making sure the sheet stayed around us both just incase Katie or Cook were around.

Naomi and I stayed in the shower for a long time, washing each other's bodies and enjoying the hot water. When all the hot water ran out we stepped out of the shower, dried off and returned to our bedroom. We fixed our hair and makeup and got dressed and then went downstairs to find something to eat before we had to leave for Freddie's.

We walked in to the kitchen and Cook and Katie were both sitting at the table eating whatever they had been able to pull together for a quick dinner. I pulled some bread out of the cupboard, planning on just making us each a sandwich. Katie stood up from the table ad moved to put her plate in the sink. "Don't you think you're going to be a bit cold in that Katiekins?" I heard Naomi ask. I turned around to see what Katie was wearing. She had an incredibly short skirt on and a skimpy top that definitely showed off her "assets", if you know what I mean. "Where do you even buy tops that revealing?" Naomi wondered aloud.

"It's Emily's" I heard Katie answer. Naomi's head whipped up and she looked at me, eyes wide.

"What?" I asked her

"How come I've never seen you where that before?"

"I only bought it a few weeks ago, haven't had a chance yet." I explained, smiling.

"Well I definitely expect to see you wearing it sometime soon." Naomi told me. I laughed. If that's the reaction I got just from her thinking about me wearing it then there was no doubt that I would be wearing it at the soonest possible opportunity. I had half a mind to make Katie take it off so I could wear it tonight, but decided against it.

The four of us left for Freddie's a bit after 7, arriving at the shed the same time as JJ and Lara. We walked in and saw Freddie, Effy, Panda and Thomas, already with a drink each. They greeted us and passed around some shots, all of downing them at the same time and then having another round. We stayed at Freddie's until all of us were sufficiently tipsy, except for JJ and Lara since they had to pick up Albert early the next morning and didn't want to do so hung-over.

We left for Keith's pub, walking down the road, Naomi and me hand in hand. Freddie whipped out a few spliffs that we passed around between us all, as well as a bottle of vodka. We stayed at Keith's for a couple of hours, playing a few games of pool and having a few more cheap drinks, courtesy of Uncle Keith. Cook managed to get his hands on some "special blend" and a few of the other disappeared of to the toilets to take it. Naomi, JJ and Lara and me stayed behind. Naomi and I had both decided we didn't want to get too shit-faced tonight. We were limiting ourselves to alcohol and few spliff, which could do damage enough for one night. After the others returned from the toilets we left Keith's and headed to our favourite club.

We congregated around the bar; Cook getting another round of drinks for all of us before we all began to split off our different ways. Effy and Freddie moved over to a row of sofas that were running along the wall and JJ and Lara joined them not long after. Panda and Thomas disappeared on to the dance floor. Cook had found some bird and led her off to dance and some loser of a guy that was hitting on Katie had dragged her off to dance as well. Naomi and I stayed at the bar, having a couple of drinks, just enjoying the music and each other's company.

A while later I looked over to the dance floor to make sure Katie was okay. I couldn't see her at first but then Naomi pointed her out to me. It looked like Katie and Cook had both ditched their partners and were now dancing with each other. They looked like they were having fun. I was glad they were getting along so well and I was definitely glad that Cook wasn't trying to pick up random girls to shag. Seriously, if I woke up one more time to the sound of him fucking some girl up against the wall and telling her to grab his balls I was going to have serious words with him. I was glad Katie wasn't trying to hook up with some random tosser as well. She had changed a lot when she found out she couldn't have kids. I mean she was never quite the slut that everyone said she was; it wasn't very often that she would just shag some guy she just met. She had had a lot of boyfriends though. She hadn't had any since that short dork, Sam though. Anyway, I was glad she wasn't trying to hook up with whomever she could find just for the sake of it. Occasionally I saw her glance at Thomas, who was crazy dancing with Panda. I couldn't help but notice that she looked a bit sad every time she saw him. I pondered this a while, as I continued to watch them.

"What are you thinking babe?" Naomi asked me, leaning in close to me so that I could hear her over the loud music.

"I think Katie might like Thomas," I told her. That had to be it. There was no other explanation for the way she kept looking at him. He occasionally looked over at her too, and maybe it was just me, but every time he did I thought he looked slightly guilty.

"What makes you think that?"

"They keep looking at each other. And every time they do Katie looks sad and Thomas looks guilty." Naomi watched them for a while.

"I think you might be right, babe." She eventually said. "Weird. Definitely not who I would have picked for Katie."

"Me either. I'll talk to her about it later." We stood together a while longer, finishing off our drinks, stealing brief kisses occasionally.

"Do you want to go sit with the others?" Naomi asked me, nodding her head to where Effy, Freddie, JJ and Lara were sitting.

"I'll see you over there in a minute, just need to go to the loo." She nodded, gave me a peck on the cheek and headed off to join the others, as I headed in the other direction to the toilets.

As I was coming out of the bathroom, I saw Cook leave the men's. "Emilio!" he cried, clearly off his face, pulling me in to a tight embrace. "Having a rave?" he asked me.

"Yeah, it's fun. Hey, have you seen where Katie went?"

"Yeah, she went to get a drink. Why?"

"I just wanted to talk to her about something. I might go find her."

"No! This isn't the time for talking. This is the time for dancing! C'mon, muff monkey, let's dance!" he cried, taking my hand and dragging me off to the dance floor. I gave in and followed, figuring I could talk to Katie some other time.

Cook and me started to dance and I look over to the side and saw Naomi watching us with a smile on her face. I waved at her and gestured for her to come over and join us. She shook her head. I knew she didn't like dancing much; she only ever danced with me because she knew how much I loved it. Even still, she normally took a bit of convincing. I gestured again and she rolled her eyes but stood up, making her way over to us. I took her hand and the three of us danced together for a while, laughing and having fun. Eventually Cook signaled that he was going to have a smoke and left us. I looked at Naomi, silently asking if she wanted to go for a smoke as well. She nodded and took my hand, following Cook, leading me behind her.

We got out to the smoking area and Naomi pulled out her little case of cigarettes from her bra. She lit one up and inhaled before passing it to me. Naomi and me always used to share smokes. I don't know why, it was just what we had always done. I guess it was probably a good thing. We both still got our fix but didn't have to smoke crazy amounts each. I liked that we had automatically gone back to doing that when we got back together. We stood around outside, finishing off our fags, making small talk. Just as I took a final puff and threw the cigarette butt on the ground, extinguishing it, Effy stepped outside. We spoke to her for a moment before Naomi and I decided to head back inside. "Are you coming?" I asked them.

"Nah, I'll stay out here with Eff." Cook answered for both of them, lighting another fag and offering Effy a second one. She shrugged and accepted it. I swear, those two smoke more than the rest of us combined. I led Naomi back inside and bought us another drink each, before spotting Katie and Freddie dancing together and heading over to join them.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed. I'm on uni holidays now, so I have a month full of doing nothing, so hopefully I will have a fair bit of time to write. I've got the next chapter already written so that will be uploaded tomorrow (or later today, depending on where you are).**


	7. Chapter 7

**So here's chapter 7 for you :) Hope you have all had a swell weekend.**

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Chapter 7

**Cook**

I stood outside with Effy, smoking in silence. We had almost finished our fags when I eventually spoke up. "So what's the deal with Katie and Thomas then?" I asked her.

"She likes him. But he loves Panda. She's fine with that and is trying to get over him but Thomas feels guilty."

"She told you all that?" I asked her, slightly amazed that Katie had opened up so much.

"No."

"Oh." Of course, I should have known that the all-knowing Effy had just figured it out. I wasn't sure how I felt about Thomas. Me and him never really got along. At first it was because I popped Panda, which I know was wrong, but I was a dick head then. I mean, I know I can still be a dick, but back then I was always a dick. And then things got worse with Thomas and me when he thought that I was the one that dealt Sophia the drugs. We were never really friends, we were just too different. But I still respected him; he generally seemed like a good guy. And then he cheated on Panda and the respect I had flew out the window. I couldn't understand how someone could do that to Panda. I know I can hardly judge, I've screwed people over plenty of times, but he had an amazing bird and he just threw it all away. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Panda and what he did really hurt her. She's so naïve and innocent but she changed after that. She wasn't the same Panda anymore. She was broken. And it was because of Thomas.

I know it's hardly my place to be protective of Katie, or to say who she can or can't like, but I really wasn't to keen on this. "What does she see in him?" I asked Eff, needing to understand.

"He was there for her at a time when no one else was. She trusts him." That was fair enough I suppose. I knew Katie had been through a lot in the last year or so but I hadn't seen any of it since I had been in jail and she hadn't shared it with me. And I didn't really feel like it was my place to ask. Maybe someday, but not yet.

"Wanna go back inside? I still have some powder left if you're up for it?" I said, figuring I should stop worrying about Katie's love life and enjoy my night out.

"No thanks, I think I've had enough for tonight. Freddie's worried about me. I'm not even supposed to be drinking with my meds."

"Fair enough." I said, putting my arm around her shoulder and guiding her back inside. When we got inside we saw Freddie and Katie dancing together. Effy smiled when she saw them. I think she was glad that after everything that had happened between all of them in our first year of college that they all managed to get over it and be good friends again. I saw Freddie look over at us and signal to Katie that he was going to come and join us. Katie nodded and followed behind him. When they reached us I bought us another round of shots and we all downed them before I slyly pulled out my little bag of powder. "Up for some more Fredster?" I asked, shaking the bag. Freddie glanced quickly at Effy.

"No, I better not. Thank anywa-"

"Freddie, it's fine. You don't need to take care of me all the time." Effy said, cutting Freddie off. "Beside, Katie's here too, nothing's going to happen." Freddie looked unsure.

"Freds, it's fine, I wont let anything happen to her." Katie assured him.

"Righto. Why not then." Freddie agreed. I gave a little cheer, put my arm around his shoulder and dragged him of to the bathrooms. We both snorted some powder and left the bathroom, getting another drink as we waiting for the drugs to kick in. And fuck me, did they kick in. The lights on the dance floor were spinning like a kaleidoscope, the music felt like it was pulsing right through my veins. I was jumping around on the dance floor like a loon, not giving a shit what people thought of me. The next couple of hours went past in a blur, not really knowing what I was doing, who I was dancing with, what I was drinking.

When I finally came to my senses I was in the passage that led to the toilets, I had a girl up against the wall, squeezing her tits, her tongue down my throat and her legs around my waist. How the fuck did that happen? And who the fuck was she? Christ, she's not even that hot, I thought to myself, pulling back slightly for a moment to try and get a look at her. She pulled my lips back to hers and stuck her tongue straight back down my throat. I felt her grab my cock through my pants and unbuckle my belt. 'Is this what I really want?' I asked myself. Fuck it, no big deal. Wont hurt anything, I do this all the time. I started to kiss her back, rocking my body up against hers. I felt her hand slip in to my pants. This wasn't right. Something just didn't feel right. I started to pull away but she would let go. I pulled her hand out of my pants and pulled out of the kiss.

"What are you doing?" she asked me.

"Sorry, this just doesn't feel right." I told her, setting her back on the ground and stepping away.

"What the fuck? What kind of man does that?" I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Sorry." I told her, and walked away, zipping up my fly and re-buckling my belt.

I saw Naomi sitting at the bar and walked over and joined her. "And where have you been?" she asked me. I shrugged again, still feeling a bit strange.

"Let me guess, shagging some girl in the toilets?"

"Almost. Not quite." I told her

"Not quite in the toilets? Jesus, couldn't you have kept it in your pants long enough to get somewhere semi-private?"

"You're one to talk. I saw you earlier in the smoking area with your hand up Emilio's skirt when you thought no-one was out there." Naomi's face went red and she stuttered a bit before I took her out of her misery and explained where I had been. "Anyway, I didn't mean we were almost in the toilets, I meant we were almost shagging."

"Almost? What does that mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. We were almost shagging and then I stopped it." I told her, slightly embarrassed that I was sharing this with Naomi but also glad that I had a best friend that I could talk to about anything.

"That doesn't sound like you." Naomi said. I shrugged again.

"Just didn't feel right," I explained.

"Sounds like someone's growing up." She teased. I didn't say anything. "Or sounds like someone is wishing it was someone else." She said after scrutinising me for a moment. When I still didn't say anything she started talking again. "So who is it then? Effy?"

"I don't know. I know that me and her are never going to happen. Her and Fred are happy together and I'm happy for them."

"But…?"

"But I guess a part of me still loves her. I really thought I was getting over her, and I guess I am but when me and Katie walked in to the shed earlier and saw them kissing something inside me just… hurt." Naomi took my hand and held it in her lap. "I just want to get over her. I want to be able to move on and be friends with her without wishing we could be more. And I want to be able to go back to being best friends with Fred without resenting him. I know he's better for Effy than I am but I still feel a bit bitter at him for it sometimes."

"Listen, Cook. Do you think that you and Effy are supposed to be together?" Naomi asked me.

"No. Her and Freddie are perfect for each other." I said, slightly reluctantly.

"Well then there is someone else out there for you. You're 18 it's not like you're going to live the rest of your life alone just because the first girl you loved didn't end up being the one for you. Someday you're going to find the girl that is absolutely perfect for you. The girl that you love more than anything else in the world, that you love with you whole heart, yet every time you see her, you somehow still manage to fall just that little bit more in love with her." I looked at her and saw that she was looking across the room. I followed her eyes and saw that she was looking right at Emily, and Emily was looking straight back in to Naomi's eyes, smiling, even though she couldn't hear what Naomi was saying. "And when you find that girl you'll be grateful for now, because, even though it's hard at the moment, you've learnt how to love people and how to open up." I looked back at Naomi. Her eyes were glassy, as if the tears were threatening to spill over and she had a slight smile on her lips as she continued to stare straight in to her girlfriend's eyes.

"You've turned soft, Blondie." I told her, lightening the mood slightly.

"I know. And it's the best thing that ever happened." She said, smiling at me. She gave me a quick peck on the cheek and stood up. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go and join my girl." She strode across the room to where most of the others were sitting on the sofas. Naomi squeezed on to the seat beside Emily and kissed her on the forehead, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her in to a hug. Emily rested her head on Naomi's shoulder and they stayed in that position, talking and laughing with the others. I looked to the other couch and saw Effy sitting on Freddie's lap. They looked happy. Right, that's enough, I thought. No more pining after Effy. Just make the most of being young and free while you have the chance. I wandered over to where the rest of them were sitting and took a seat next to JJ, joining in their conversation and laughing along with them.

* * *

**Katie:**

Tonight has definitely been the big night out I had hoped it would be. After everything that has gone on these last few weeks I was definitely ready to get fucked up, and get fucked up I did. I took who knows how much of whatever Cook got from Uncle Keith, way too many drinks to count and a couple of spliffs. I think it was safe to say that I was fucked up.

It had been an amazing night, even if I didn't know what was going on most of the time. A couple of guys tried to hit on me, I let most of them buy me drinks and then ditched them. I wasn't there to hook up with someone; I just wanted to have fun with my friends. One guy asked me if I wanted to dance. He was pretty fit so I followed him to the dance floor and danced with him for a while. He started running his hands over my body, feeling me up and kissing my neck. I went with it for a while until I saw Thomas out the corner of my eye. I was suddenly aware of the fact that I had no idea who this guys was or that I felt nothing toward him and it didn't feel right all of a sudden. I pushed him away slightly and stepped back from him. He looked at me confused. "Sorry. It's just not right." He frowned at me, turned and walked off, heading across the dance floor until he found some slut and started dancing with her.

I headed off across the dance floor, thinking I would just go and find Effy and Freddie and hang out with them instead when Cook suddenly jumped out of nowhere and wrapped his arms around me and started dancing with me. I was still pumping from the drugs and alcohol so I went along with it, letting the music pulse through me. Thomas was near us, dancing with Panda and I couldn't help but look at him occasionally. Every now and again I saw him looking back. He looked sad, I thought. Kind of guilty. I didn't want him to feel guilty; I wanted him to be happy with Panda. Everyone knew they were perfect for each other. After dancing with Cook for a while the alcohol was starting to wear off and I couldn't stand the looks Thomas was giving me any longer. "I gotta get a drink!" I shouted in Cooks ear. "You want one?"

"Nah, I gotta go piss!" Cook shouted back before walking across to the toilets and leaving me in the middle of the dance floor.

I fought through the crowds toward the bar and sat on a stool. I got a drink and sat for a while, listening to the music. The music they played here was great, it was half the reason this was our favourite club. The DJ was a friend of Thomas and you could always count on him to play the best beats. I finished off my drink and was about to go and find the others when Freddie came and sat on the stool next to me and ordered us a round of shots. I thanked him and downed my shot. "Where's Effy?" I asked him. I knew he worried about her and it wasn't very often that he left her alone.

"She's out having a smoke with Cook, Emily and Naomi." He explained.

"You can go and join them of you want to, you don't have to stay in here with me." I told him.

"It's okay, she's with the others, they'll watch out for her. Anyway, I saw you were over here by yourself so I thought I'd come see if you were up for a dance."

"With you, Mr. McLair, I'm always up for a dance." I stood up and took his hand and led him to the dance floor. I was so glad that Freddie and me had managed to get over all the shit of him cheating on me. I think we had all kind of just accepted that we were all pretty stupid and immature back then. We were all just trying to be popular and get the hottest boyfriend or girlfriend or get revenge on our friends. It was all fucked but me and Freddie had become close again when Effy had been in hospital. Everyone always said he was a fun sponge, but when you really got to know him he was actually really funny.

I danced with Freddie for a while but when we saw Cook and Effy come back in we went back over and joined them. Cook dragged Freddie off to the toilets to take some more powder and Effy and I wandered over to the couches in the corner and sat down. We sat quietly for a moment, listening to the music. I spotted Emily and Naomi on the dance floor. As sickening as it was to see your twin sister and her lesbian lover practically having sex with their clothes on, on the dance floor, I was truly happy that they were back together. I knew that they were truly happy when they were together and the months when they had been apart definitely proved that they brought out the best in each other… when they were together, that is.

I looked around the crowded room and saw Thomas and Panda sitting on a sofa on the other wall, cuddling and kissing occasionally. There was no denying that they were a cute couple. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Effy look at me and then over at Panda and Thomas. I looked away quickly, embarrassed at being caught staring and focused my attention on Freddie and Cook who were jumping around the dance floor like total idiots. I knew Effy was looking at me but I pretended I didn't notice. "So do you want to talk about it?" I heard her ask me.

"Talk about what?" I asked her, pretending I didn't know what she was talking about.

"About how much you like Thomas and how horrible it feels seeing him with Panda." Of course she already knew exactly what was going on.

"There's not really anything to talk about." I told her, still not looking at her.

"Katie, if there's one thing you've taught me over the last couple of months, it's that talking about things actually does help." I didn't say anything. "Is this what you were thinking about earlier? Why you've been acting strange all day?"

I nodded, "Partly." Effy took my hand and squeezed it tight.

"Katie, you don't always have to put on a brave face. It's okay to be upset sometimes. It's okay to get angry and jealous and sad and anything else, the important thing is how you deal with those emotions. And bottling them up and pretending they aren't there is definitely not the best way. Trust me." I looked down at our hands that were resting in my lap and traced my finger over the white scars that were on Effy's wrist.

"And how are you supposed to deal with them?" I asked her. She shrugged and was silent for a while before answering.

"I'm not really sure yet. But you need to acknowledge that the feelings are there. Don't just pretend like they're not. Once you acknowledge them, then you can start to work through them."

"How'd you get to be so smart Eff?" I asked her. She really was wise beyond her age, that girl. When she didn't say anything I looked up at her. I wasn't really expecting a real answer, but I thought she would at least acknowledge that I had spoken.

"It's pretty much the opposite of what John Foster tried to make me do." She explained.

"Oh." I wished I hadn't said anything. I hated reminding her of that jerk. He had really screwed her up even more than she already was. Eventually me, Freddie and Anthea had managed to get it through his head that he was fired and he left town. Thank god. "So how do I get over Thomas then?" I asked her.

"Depends how much you like him." She said. I thought about it for a moment.

"I really like him. It's different to all my other boyfriends. They were pretty much for convenience, or status. I never actually really liked their personalities that much. But with Thomas… I don't know… I just like spending time with him. Talking to him, you know? It doesn't matter what we're doing or who else we're with. I just… like being with him…" Effy was silent for a while as she took in everything I said.

"Do you think you and Thomas are supposed to be together?" She asked me.

"No. He loves Panda. They are perfect for each other."

"So one day you are going to find the guy that is perfect for you, the one that you are meant to be with forever. You'll love him more than you could have imagined. And he'll love you back. I don't think there's much that can make you get over someone except for time. And until then, just go with it. Plus, he's moving to America with Panda in a month. Not seeing him everyday will probably speed up the process a bit. And just remember that there is someone out there for you and someday you will find them."

I didn't say anything for a while, the thoughts that had been plaguing me since I found out I couldn't have kids threatening to come to the surface. "What are you thinking?" Effy asked. I still didn't answer. "Katie, what did we just say about bottling things up?"

"Why would any guy want me?" I said, finally admitting my concerns. Effy wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me in to a tight hug. She kissed me on the head and then rested our heads together.

"Katie, there is nothing wrong with you. You can't have kids. I know it's horrible and it's not at all what you planned for your life. But there are other options. You can adopt, or use a surrogate. When you find the guy you are meant to be with, he won't care about it. If he does care, then he is obviously not the guy for you and you could do a lot better."

I sat in Effy's comforting embrace a while longer, until we saw that Emily, Freddie, JJ and Lara had joined Thomas and Panda on the other sofa.

"Want to go join the others?" Effy asked.

"Yeah, sure," I answered, standing up. "I'll go get us a couple of drinks and meet you over there, yeah?"

"Yeah, thanks." Effy headed off to the others and I made my way over to the bar.

I ordered our drinks and was about to pay when I heard a voice behind me, "How about I get those for you?" I turned around to see who it was. Oh my god, he was fit. Tall, but not a giant. He had short brown hair that he had slightly messed up, perfect complexion and the perfect amount of buff.

"Oh that's okay, I've got them." I eventually stuttered out.

"I insist." He said, paying the bartender. He sat down on the bar stool next to him and pulled one closer to me.

"You really didn't have to do that." I told him.

"I know, but I wanted to." He said, "So who's the other drink for?" he asked. I glanced across the room to where Effy was sitting. She was watching me with a smile on her face. I caught her eye and she winked at me, indicating that I should talk to him. Fuck it, I thought. Why not? Just because Thomas didn't like me didn't mean I needed to be lonely and miserable.

"It's yours, if you'd like it." I said to him with a smile. He laughed.

"You can take it back to your friend if you'd rather." He said.

"No, that's fine." I said, pushing the drink toward him. I took a seat on the stool next to him and took a sip of my drink.

"So the guy I saw you dancing with earlier… are you two together?" he asked me. I thought for a minute, trying to figure out who he had seen me dancing with. I had danced with Freddie, Cook and that random tool.

"Which one do you mean?" I asked him.

"Does it really matter which one?" he asked. I laughed.

"I suppose not. I'm not with any of them." I told him.

"So are you single, or you just didn't bring your man out tonight?" he asked. I liked this guy. Most guys didn't give a shit if I was single or not, they just went for it anyway.

"I'm single." I said. He smiled.

"I'm Timothy Matthews," he said, holding out his hand to me. I laughed at his formality.

"I'm Kathryn Fitch," I said, taking his hand and shaking it.

"Lovely to meet you, Kathryn." He said.

"Ugh, I shouldn't have said that was my name. I hate it when people call me that. Sounds like I'm in trouble or something. Call me Katie." He laughed.

"Well Katie, in that case, you can call me Tim."

I sat and talked to Tim for a while, getting to know a bit about him. He was 20, about to start his final year of studying teaching at university, focusing on history and English in the hope of becoming a high school teacher. He worked part time at his Dad's mechanic business. He had been taught how to work on the cars when he was a kid, always hanging out at his Dad's garage. He had an older brother, Ben, who was 22, a younger brother, Jacob, who was 17, and a little sister, Rebecca, who was 11. His said his Mum had died when he was younger, but it didn't seem like he wanted to say much about it so I didn't push for any more information. He loved anything to do with sports and he was the lead singer and guitarist of a band that he had put together with his brother, Ben, and a few of their mates. He seemed almost too good to be true. He was polite, funny, and he listened to everything I said so intently, as if there was going to be a test on it later.

After we talked for a while, he stood up and held out is hand to me. "Would you care to dance?" He asked. I took his hand and hopped off my seat, following him to the dance floor. We danced for quite a while, moving to the music and laughing as we did so. He was a good dancer. He danced close, but not too close. He held my hands, my shoulders and around my waist, but his hand never once slipped down too far, and he never once leant in for a kiss or made me feel like he was in this for something more.

Eventually we got tired and headed over to the bar and he bought us some more drinks. "Do you want to come and meet my friends?" I asked him. He looked a bit unsure. "You don't have to." I assured him, not wanting him to feel pressured or anything.

"No, I'd like to." He said. I took his hand and led him over to the sofas where Emily, Naomi, Effy, Freddie and Cook were sitting, talking and laughing, all clearly quite drunk. It looked like Thomas, Panda, JJ and Lara had already left. It was pretty late, after all. Must have been at least 3am already. We stood in front of my sister and friends; they looked up at us expectantly.

"Guys, this is Tim. Tim this is Cook, Freddie, Effy, Naomi and my sister, Emily." I said pointing them all out. Tim shook Freddie and Cook's hands and nodded to the others.

"Good to meet you all." He said. We took some seats with the others and fell in to easy conversation. I kept looking at Tim, checking that he was okay, not wanting him to feel too overwhelmed by everything. He seemed like he was having a great time, answering their questions and asking questions back, laughing at their jokes and making his own.

Eventually Emily and Naomi stood up, slightly wobbly from all the alcohol they had consumed. "We're going home." They announced loudly to everyone. "You guys coming?" they asked me and Cook.

"Yep, I'm ready." Cook said, standing up. I looked at Tim.

"Can I walk you home?" he asked. I smiled at him.

"Yeah, I'd like that." I answered. I walked over to Eff and gave her a hug goodbye.

"I love you. I'm proud of you." She whispered in my ear as we hugged. I kissed her on the cheek, letting her know in our own way that I knew and that I felt the same about her.

Emily, Naomi, Cook, Tim and me set off up the road back to our house. Emily was complaining the whole way that her feet were hurting so eventually Cook told her to hop on his back and he piggy-backed her the whole way, Naomi drunkenly complaining that it was unfair the he carried her, while she had to walk. Tim took my hand as we walked and entwined our fingers. We walked a little way behind the others, continuing our conversation from earlier.

When we got back to the house, Emily, Naomi and Cook went inside. Tim and me stopped outside the door, me standing on the top step, him a step down so that our heights weren't so uneven. We stood awkwardly for a moment, not sure what the other was thinking. "I had a lot of fun with you tonight." He finally said. "Maybe we could catch up for coffee or dinner or something sometime?"

"Yeah definitely," I said, breathing a sigh of relief. He passed me his phone and I put my number in it, saving it so that he could call me. I passed the phone back and he slid it in to his pocket. He smiled at me.

"I'll call you tomorrow then." He said.

"Okay, sounds good." I said, looking down at his lips, trying to decide whether to go in for the kiss or whether it was a bit soon. He answered the question for me when he started to lean in. I leant in and met his lips, kissing him lightly. He pulled back and looked me in the eye, smiling, before leaning back in and kissing me again, slightly harder this time. He took a step closer and put his hands on my hips, holding my body against his and I reached up and held on to his neck. Our lips moved in sync for a moment, before he pulled back and reached for my hand, kissing the back of it lightly. He smiled at me and went to turn away.

"Wait!" I said, possibly a bit too enthusiastically. He turned back to me, looking slightly amused.

"Yes?"

"Do you wanna come inside? Have a drink or something?" I asked him, trying to regain my cool.

"Yeah, I'd like that." He said.

I opened the front door and we walked in to the house. We went in to the kitchen and I made us coffee and led him to the lounge room. I took a seat on the sofa and he sat down next to me. We talked for hours, getting to know each other. I don't know how long we talked for, but it must have been a while because before I knew it, the room started getting lighter as the morning sun shone through the front window. We must have fallen asleep at some stage, because when I woke up, the room was fully light and I could hear people moving around in the kitchen. Our mugs from last night were still sitting on the coffee table in front of us and I was leaning against Tim, my head resting on his chest, my legs up on the seat beside me, with Tim's arm wrapped around my shoulder.

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**Hope you enjoyed. Reviews - positive or negative - are very much appreciated :) Next chapter will be up soon.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello friends :) so this chapter is a bit long and a bit shit. I'm really fucking tired and I just wanted to get the last of the 'setting up' part of the story done so that I can start on the actual story. **

**So sorry if this bores you to death. I promise that from the next chapter things will start getting a bit more interesting. **

**Thanks to all those who are still sticking with this, and to those who review. **

**There is a bit of Naomily sexy time at the end of this chapter as a reward to all those who manage to stay awake through it )**

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**Chapter 8**

**Naomi:**

"Fuck me." I groaned, rolling over and burying my face in the pillow, blocking out the sun that was streaming through my curtains that we must have forgotten to close in our drunken state last night.

"Maybe later babe, I've got a mother of a hangover." I heard Emily mumble, also trying to cover her eyes. I stayed lying with my face pressed in to the pillow until it got too hard to breathe and I rolled on to my side and looked at Emily, squinting as I adjusted to the light. Emily turned to face me and I saw that she looked about as bad as I felt. Her hair was messed up, eyeliner and mascara smudged under her bloodshot eyes. And judging by the slightly amused look on her face I figured I was looking much the same.

Last night had been incredible. Or the parts I remember were incredible. I remember going to Uncle Keith's pub and then on to the club. I remember laughing a lot. I remember dancing a lot. I remember fucking Emily in the smoking area when we were the only ones out there. I remember talking to Cook about Effy. I remember laughing, dancing and drinking a _lot_ more. But after then it kind of all became a bit of a blur. I don't even remember actually arriving home. I vaguely remember walking home but I don't actually recall _getting_ home. Oh well. I took a peek under the blanket and saw that Emily and I were both naked so I figured we had probably shown ourselves a pretty good time.

I leant over to Emily and gave her a peck on the lips and forced myself to sit up, my head spinning and feeling like someone was hitting me repeatedly with a mallet. I leant against the bed head. "I am never drinking that much ever again." I said, glancing at Emily. She raised an eyebrow at me. "Okay, I'm not drinking that much again until at least tomorrow." I told her. She laughed. But the stopped quickly and massaged her temples with her fingertips.

I eventually climbed out of bed, deciding that it would be better to get up and get some good painkillers than just sit there. I stumbled over to wardrobe and pulled out some knickers and a t-shirt to wear, throwing some clothes to Emily at her request. We dressed ourselves and walked out to the landing, just as Cook was coming out of him room, only wearing his jocks. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at us. "Morning Cook," Emily said, clearly the least hung-over of all of us. Cook just glanced at her and groaned in response. We made our way down the stairs and into the kitchen, bumping against walls, doors and tables as we went. I grabbed some painkillers out of the cupboard and we all grabbed a glass of water and washed down some pills. I flicked the switch on the kettle and we sat at the table, waiting for it to boil.

I heard a noise and turned around to see Katie walking through the kitchen door, still dressed in the clothes she was wearing last night. "Morning," She said to us all, depositing two used coffee mugs in the sink and pulling out two new clean ones. None of us bothered saying anything, just sat staring at the table.

"Morning everyone," said another, deeper voice behind me that I didn't recognise. Our heads all turned to see whose voice it was, a look of confusion on everyone but Katie's face. He looked vaguely familiar but as hard as I tried, I just couldn't figure out who he was or what the fuck he was doing in my house. He laughed at our bewildered faces. "I'm Tim. We met last night, but from the looks you're all giving me it doesn't seem like you remember…" Cook and me grunted in response, as the memory of meeting Tim came back to us. Emily stood up and poured us each a cup of coffee and told Tim to take a seat. He sat on the final dining chair so that we were all sitting around the square table except for Katie, who moved to sit up on the bench top, until Tim patted his knee, indicating that she sit on his lap. She took a seat and Tim wrapped his arms around her waist, clasping his hands in front of her stomach and Katie rested her hands on top of his. Seemed like they were getting along well, I thought. Emily, Katie and Tim fell in to easy conversation, me and Cook adding our part every now again, after the painkillers and coffee had begun to work their magic. Emily moved about the kitchen making a pile of toast for us all and set it in the middle of the table, along with a collection of spreads, as well as some plates and knives. We dug in to the toast, all feeling slightly better once we had full stomachs.

"What do you want to do today Naoms?" Emily asked me as the conversation began to die down somewhat.

"Hmm, not much. Maybe head back to bed in a while and stay there all day." I told her with a wink. She smiled and leant in to give me a kiss.

"Okay, we don't need to hear about what kinky things you want to get up to today. We have a guest here, remember." Katie said. Tim laughed and turned to her. "What are your plans for today?" He asked Katie.

"Don't have any, as of yet." She said.

"Well would you like to do something then?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Katie answered, smiling.

"Great. Well I'll go home and have a shower and stuff and come back and pick you up in an hour or so?" He suggested, patting Katie on the thigh indicating for her to hop up so that he could stand. She stayed where she was.

"You can just have a shower here if you want. Naoms and Emily won't mind. Would you?" She asked us, raising her eyebrows in such a threatening way that we wouldn't dare so that it wasn't okay.

"Yeah, of course, that's fine." I answered.

"Thanks, but that's okay, I need to get changed too." He said.

"Well I'm sure we can sort something out." Katie said, looking pointedly at Cook.

"What?" Cook asked, oblivious to what Katie was suggesting. Katie sighed.

"Is there something we can sort out?" she asked him. Cook turned to me, a confused look on his face, as if asking if I understood what Katie was saying. He clearly hadn't been listening to the conversation at all.

"Katie wants you to lend Tim some clothes." I told him, laughing at how clueless he was, "Fucksake, try listening for once."

"Oh, right. Yeah, just help yourself to whatever's in the wardrobe or floor." He said, resting his arms on the table and resting his head on his arms. We laughed at Cook and Katie stood up from Tim's lap.

"Bathroom is right up the stairs, mine and Cook's room is the one opposite the bathroom, on the far side. Help yourself to whatever clothes you find in there." She told him.

"Thanks," Tim said, standing up and leaving the kitchen.

"So. You and Tim, huh?" Emily asked, once we heard the shower start.

"Yep," Katie said, trying to be nonchalant but unable to hide the smile on her face.

"What ended up happening with you guys last night?" Emily asked.

"Not a lot. We just stayed up all night talking. Fell asleep on the couch."

"Did anything happen between you?" Emily asked. I chuckled at how interested Emily was in her sister's love life.

"Nope. We kissed, but that's it."

"Just kissed?" I teased, "That doesn't sound like the famous Katie Fitch."

"Fuck off, I'm not as much of a slut as people say I am." I turned to look at Emily, asking her if that was actually true.

"It's true," Emily told me. I raised my eyebrows at her. "Okay, it's half true." She admitted. I laughed and Katie hit her lightly on the arm.

"Fuck you guys." Katie said, "I really like him, I don't want anything to happen to screw this up."

"Well I'm happy for you." Emily told her, kissing her on top of the head as she cleared the table. "I hope your date goes well." I rose from the table and helped Emily put the dishes in the sink and we left the kitchen and walked in to the lounge room, where Cook was now sitting, slumped next to the fire place, smoking, having given up on trying to follow our conversation in the kitchen. Emily and I sat on the sofa, my arm wrapped around her and we sat like that for a while. When Tim was finished in the bathroom, Katie went and took a shower and Tim came and joined us, wearing the same jeans from last night and one of Cook's polo shirts.

Eventually Kate came back downstairs, finally ready for her date and Tim slipped on his shoes and they left the house, walking down the street hand in hand. Cook was asleep, leaning against the wall, head tipped back, mouth open, snoring slightly. Emily dozed off, leaning against me and I made myself comfortable on the sofa, before allowing myself to drift off too.

A loud knock on the front door woke me from my slumber and I sat up quickly, disappointed that I still had a killer of a headache now that the pain killers had worn off, not to mention a stiff neck from resting against the stiff arm rest of my green sofa. I looked through the window to see who was attempting to knock my door down and looked at Emily when I saw who it was. She had looked too, and quickly rose and walked to the front door before I could. "Hi Mandy," I heard her say as she opened the front door. I heard Mandy come inside and Emily close the door behind her. I sat back on the couch and leaned back as far as I could, so that I could see out the door of the lounge room and in to the entrance hall, where Mandy and Emily were standing at the foot of the stairs. I heard Emily and Mandy exchange general pleasantries. After a minute of hellos, how are you's and what's new's, I heard Emily cut to the chase. "Look, Mandy, what are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out." She glanced in to the lounge room and saw me. "Or maybe go out somewhere." I waited to hear what Emily was going to say. I had never told her about the run in I'd had with Mandy after Emily had stormed out of the room the other day.

"Um, no, I don't think so Mandy. Sorry." I smiled to myself, glad that Emily had turned her down.

"Why not?" Mandy asked. Jeez, what a nosy bitch, I thought.

"I just don't want to. Sorry." Emily explained.

"I thought you liked spending time with me." I leant toward the door, making sure I didn't miss Emily's answer.

"Um, well, yeah, I did. But it's just not right. Sorry." Far out Ems, stop apologising to her after every sentence.

"Why not?" Mandy persisted, sounding annoyed, her voice slightly raised. Emily opened her mouth and closed it again, clearly not sure what to say. "Are you two back together?" she asked, nodding to where I was sitting.

"Yeah, we are." Emily told her. I knew Emily was smiling slightly, even though I couldn't see her. I could tell by the way she said it.

"Why?"

"Because I love her." Emily simply stated. I smiled when I heard that. It felt nice hearing Emily profess her love in front of someone else.

"What do you even see in her?" Mandy asked, clearly getting frustrated at Emily. "She's a lying, cheating bitch. And she does nothing but drink and take drugs all day, everyday."

"She's not like that anymore." Emily told her, clearly not willing to put up with any of the giant's shit.

"You sure about that?" Mandy asked, aggressively.

"Yes." Emily answered straight away, very assertively.

"You know, she kissed me the other day." Mandy told her, clearly trying to make up any excuse for Emily not to be with me. I laughed at her feeble attempt.

"Fuck off, Mandy, we both know it was you that kissed me." I called to her. Emily chuckled but said nothing.

"What, you believe her just like that?" Mandy said, her voice getting louder.

"Yep."

"Even after she's cheated on you before?"

"Yep."

"But you and me were going to go to Goa together. I told you. We were going to go dancing, sleep in a hut. We were going to make love on a beach." I looked at Cook, half amused, half disturbed by how stalker-ish Mandy was starting to sound. He looked back at me, the same look on his face as I had on mine.

"No, that's what I'm doing with Naomi." I smiled when I thought of Emily and me making love on a beach. It wasn't something we had discussed, but I was definitely looking forward to hearing more about it. Or actually experiencing it. I jumped and the smile was wiped from my face when I heard Mandy slam her hand in to the wall.

"No, that's what we were going to do!" Mandy said, almost shouting now. Emily took a step back from Mandy and I sat on the edge of my seat, ready to jump up and defend Emily if things got out of hand. Cook groaned and covered his ears, the loud noises clearly not helping his extreme hangover.

"I think you should probably go now Mandy." Emily told her.

"No! I'm not going anywhere, not until you admit that you want me more than you want her!" Mandy shouted.

"Oh my god, shut up," I heard Cook say quietly as he reached for another cigarette and lit it, putting it between his lips before covering his ears again.

"Mandy, I'm sorry, but I don't want you. I never really have. It's Naomi I want and nothing you say or do is going to change that." Emily told Mandy calmly. I saw Mandy lean in to Emily, lips puckered, going in for a kiss and was about to jump up and get her away from my girl when Emily shoved her away.

"Don't even think about it Mandy." Emily warned her.

"Fuck you Emily!" Mandy shouted, "She doesn't deserve you! She doesn't love you! She's just keeping you around until she finds someone else to cheat on you with!"

"Fuck you right back!" Emily said, getting angry now, herself. "Don't talk about Naomi like that! I love her and I know that she loves me. And even if she didn't I still wouldn't want to be with you!" I resisted the urge to laugh in Mandy's face, slightly worried that she would deck me if I did. She was looking really fucking angry now.

"I'll say what I like! Just because you say you love each other doesn't mean that she's not gonna screw you over again! It's only a matter of time before she does and when that happens I know that you're going to come crawling back to me! So why don't you just stop wasting your time with her and just be with me! We could be happy Emily, I know we-"

"Oh my god! Fuck off!" Shouted Cook, quickly standing up and storming over to where Emily and Mandy were. We all stared at him, shocked at his sudden outburst. "Seriously, you have _got_ to stop shouting!" He said, clearly not able to stand the loud noises any longer. He turned and walked up the stairs, presumably going back to bed. Mandy turned and walked to the door, out of my eyesight. I heard her open the front door and then stop.

"Call me, Emily." I heard her say.

"Yeah, don't count on it." Emily answered, walking to the door and closing it. I saw Mandy walk off down the front steps and Emily walked back to the bottom of the stairs and looked at me. She looked a bit shaken. I jumped over the back of the sofa and pulled her in to a big hug. She wrapped her arms around me and we held each other tight for a minute. She pulled back and put her hands on my neck, pulling me down in to a kiss. We stood like that for a moment, tongues exploring the each other's mouths, Emily's hands under my shirt at the back, softly tickling my skin, mine gently holding her neck. I dropped my hands to her hips and then ran my fingers over her stomach, under her shirt. I moved my hands around her back and squeezed her tight bum, still only covered by a pair of knickers. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around my waist and I somehow managed to carry her up the stairs, still kissing. We entered our room and I kicked the door shut behind me and put Emily down on the bed as gently as I could. I crawled on top of her and she pulled me down, so I was lying right on top of her. She rolled us over so that she was on top. She took off her own shirt and I allowed her to pull mine over my head and throw it to the floor. She leant back down and kissed me hard. I rolled us back over and kissed down her body, pulling of her knickers. I removed my own and crawled back on top, straddling her. She attempted to roll us back over but I didn't let her. We kissed for a while, enjoying the feel of our naked bodies together. I then moved down her body, stopping to suck her nipples for a minute. Her tits are fucking amazing. Seriously. I love them. I don't know why I even bothered trying to convince myself I wasn't gay for all those years. I'm about at queer as they come. I eventually released her tits and moved further down her body, spreading her legs and settling myself between them. I inserted two fingers inside her and pumped them in and out, while sucking on her clit. I continued like this for a while and it wasn't long before I felt her legs start quivering, and her hips thrust up and her entire body shook. I sat back and watched as she came, hips jerking, squeezing her tit with one hand, the other hand tangled in the sheet. It was such a beautiful sight. It still amazed me that I was able to make her come undone like that. When Emily had relaxed, she pulled me down to her and rolled us over, copying what I had done to here, not stopping till I had come twice.

We lay together after, Emily cuddled in to my side, my arm around her, holding hands, a sheet covering us up to our waists. "So… Mandy kissed you huh?" she asked me, sounding amused.

"That's what you want to talk about when we are naked in bed together?" I asked her. She laughed, but I knew she really did want to know what had happened. I turned to look at her. "After you left the room the other day, when Mandy and I were dancing, she said that if I don't want you then she does. And she kissed me. So I slapped her." Emily looked shocked when she heard what Mandy had said, but her shock turned to delight when I said I slapped her.

"I can't believe she actually kissed you." She said.

"Yep. She touched my tit, too." Emily bolted upright.

"She _what?"_ She said, clearly outraged at this new information.

"You jealous babe?" I asked her, amused at her reaction.

"No, I don't need to be jealous, I can touch your tits whenever I want. I'm just… shocked… and angry… I didn't realise she was such a psycho." I laughed and pulled Emily on top of me and kissed her hard.

"Forget about her. I don't think she'll be coming back here anytime soon, not with the way Cook shouted at her." We both laughed at that. Mandy's face had been fucking hilarious when Cook had told her to fuck off. Emily then kissed me deep, her tongue immediately entering my mouth, her hands running over my stomach before settling on my tits and squeezing them. We continued to kiss and she continued to massage my breasts. "You know, Ems, I think you are jealous." I told her, noticing the possessive way she was touching and kissing me.

"Maybe I am a little bit." She admitted. I laughed at how sheepish she sounded.

"Don't be jealous, hun. You're the only one I'll ever let enjoy my tits." With that, she kissed me quickly on the lips before moving down and sucking my nipple, rolling the other one between her fingers. And so commenced our day of lovemaking. We spent the rest of the day tangled between the sheets, kissing, touching, licking and generally making each other scream. We only left for quick trips to the bathroom or to grab some food from the kitchen before returning to the bedroom and eating it quickly in bed, before losing ourselves in each other's presence once again.

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**Emily**

Naomi and I spent the whole day in bed. Making love, talking, laughing, sleeping, eating and making love some more. It was about 8 in the evening and Naomi and I were sitting in our bed, just wearing our kickers and t-shirts. Naomi was resting against the bed head, and I was sitting between her legs, as we munched on a few snacks that we had brought up from the kitchen. "Mum and Kieran get home tomorrow!" She told me excitedly. I laughed at how childish she sounded. This time last year Naomi couldn't wait for them to leave.

"I know, I'm looking forward to seeing them."

"I hope they don't want to live here… I told Mum a couple of weeks ago that Cook was going to stay for a couple of days but she has no idea that he is still here. Or that Katie lives here too."

"Do you think she will mind?"

"Nah. She's all in to that communal living crap. She'll probably be all over it. Hopefully she'll just decide to move in with Kieran. I mean I've missed her, but one week living with her and I'll be ready for her to go away for another year."

"It'll be good to have them back though. It's been kind of weird not having parents around. I mean I know they're not my parents anyway, but it felt like they were last summer." It was true. When they decided to go away they sold the house that they lived in and bought this flat instead. And they always referred to it as mine and Naomi's house. Not theirs, not just Naomi's, but mine and Naomi's. It was nice to have a house and a family I could come home to when I was having a bad day or when I had fought with Mum. I knew I was always welcome at this house and I had started to see Gina as my other Mum, and I knew that Naomi was starting to see Kieran as her Dad, rather than her teacher, even though he and Gina weren't even married.

"You know Mum and Kieran see you as family. They love you." Naomi told me.

"I know."

We continued to eat our snacks when we heard the front door open and close and someone climbing the steps. "Katie?" I called, assuming it was probably her since we hadn't heard Cook leave his room all day.

"Yeah?" I heard her answer.

"Come here." I said. She opened the door and poked her head inside.

"What's up?"

"Come in and sit down." I told her, patting the bed. She came in, climbed on to the bed and sat cross-legged facing us. She looked, puzzled, wondering what I wanted.

"So…?" I asked her

"So what?" she replied. I sighed. She really was clueless sometimes.

"So how was your date?" I asked.

"Oh. It was good. Really good."

"You've been gone for hours, what did you get up to?" Naomi asked her.

"He took me to a café for lunch, then we went in to town and went shopping for a bit. Got some ice cream. Then we went back to his place and he cooked me dinner. Then he dropped me home. That's it."

"Did anything happen?"

"No! Why does everyone keep assuming that just because I have been hanging out with a guy I'm going to shag him?"

"Well past experience suggests that that is the what you have most likely been doing." Naomi teased. I elbowed her in the ribs, not wanting Katie think that waiting to have sex was stupid.

"Well we didn't do anything, I don't want to rush things. I really like him, I don't want to do anything to screw it up."

"Well I'm glad it's going well. When are you seeing him again?" I asked her.

"He's coming over for dinner tomorrow night. That okay?"

"That's fine with us, but Mum and Kieran get home tomorrow so as long as you're okay with them being here as well." Naomi said.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'm looking forward to meeting your mum."

The three of us sat on the bed talking for a while longer. Katie told us more about Tim. She really liked him. Like _really_ liked him. I don't think I have ever seen her so into someone that she hadn't even slept with yet. Eventually Katie left to go to bed and Naomi and I lost ourselves in the sheets again before eventually drifting off.

"Emily get up! Mum and Kieran will be here in a few hours and I want the house to be clean when they get here." I opened my eyes to find Naomi already showered and dressed, tidying up our bedroom. I sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes.

"The house is clean, Naoms. And it's not like your mum or Kieran care about that kind of stuff anyway," I protested. I really was not in the mood for cleaning. I would have much preferred Naomi to come back to bed and stay there, preferably naked, until Gina and Kieran arrived. She, however, had different ideas.

"Ems, I want the place to be perfect. They bought this place for us and I want them to know that they can trust us. So could you please just go and have a shower and then come and help me?"

"Fine, fine." I grumbled, climbing out of bed and pulling on my robe so that I could go and have a shower. I crossed the room and was about to leave when Naomi grabbed my hand and pulled me back toward her, pulling me in to a kiss. I kissed her back for a moment, our lips moving in sync, before pulling away and looking her in the eye.

"Good morning, by the way." She said, smiling and pulling me in to another quick kiss.

"Morning." I said, wrapping my arms around her neck and pulling our bodies together, pulling her in to another kiss, deeper this time. She slipped her hand inside my robe, her fingertips tickling my stomach. Thinking I was actually going to get things my way, I gently pushed her backwards toward the bed. She pulled out of the kiss and pulled my arms down from around her neck. "Nice try, Fitch," she said, "Now go and take a shower and then come back and help me in here." She turned me around, patted me on the bum and gently pushed me toward the door. I scowled at her but left the room and took a shower, deliberately taking my time, just to spite her.

Once all the hot water was gone, I dried off and went back in to our now spotless room and got dressed, before heading downstairs to find Naomi vacuuming the lounge room, Katie doing the dishes and Cook picking up all the old cigarette butt from the back garden. "About time, Ems, you've been fucking ages." Naomi said as I entered the lounge room.

"Yeah, well, I kept hoping you would join me, but you didn't."

"That's because someone has to be the mature one and actually think about things other than sex occasionally. And since you are clearly unable of doing that, then I guess it has to be me." Naomi said, chucking me a rag and some furniture polish.

"I think of things beside sex." I told her.

"Sure you do. Now start cleaning, I told you, I want the place to be clean."

"And I told you, Gina and Kieran don't give a shit about how clean the house is."

"It's not just for Mum and Kieran, Tim is coming over too, and Katie wants things to be nice." Well that was fair enough, I thought. I started polishing the furniture, cleaning off the finger marks, cigarette ash, marks from spilled drinks and whatever other crap we had somehow managed to get all over the furniture. Once I had done that, Naomi set me to work on the bathroom, then vacuuming the hallway, then helping Cook clean up the garden.

Before I knew it, I heard a car pull up out the front and heard Naomi run down the stairs to the front door. I followed her and walked down the front steps to see Gina and Kieran pulling their suitcases out of the boot of the taxi. Naomi reached them first and pulled her mother in to a tight hug. I smiled. I was glad that Naomi got along well with her mum. I know that there was a time when they hardly spoke but these days they talked to each other about almost everything. I joined them on the footpath and gave Kieran a kiss on the cheek as he pulled me in to a hug. "How are you?" I asked him.

"Oh great, just great." He said in his Irish accent. I turned to Naomi and Gina who were still hugging, talking softly in each other's ears. Naomi turned to Kieran and enveloped him in a big hug as I pulled the last couple of bags out of the taxi. Gina pulled the bags out of my hands, set them on the ground and pulled me in to a big hug. I hugged her back; tears coming to my eyes as I thought how fucked up it was that it felt more natural to hug Gina than it was to hug my own mum. Eventually Gina pulled away and wiped a tear that had trickled down my cheek.

"It's good to see you again, Emily." She told me.

"It's good to see you, too, Mum." I said, surprising myself slightly. I hadn't been planning on saying that; it had just slipped out without me thinking. Gina grinned and kissed me on the forehead.

"I like the sound of that." She said. Gina picked up her bag and followed Kieran, who had taken the suitcases in to the house. Naomi took my hand and kissed me on the cheek.

"I like the sound of that too," she said, smiling down at me. I smiled back and wrapped my arm around her waist as we walked up the front steps to join the others on the lounge room.

Gina, Kieran and Naomi squished on to the sofa in the lounge room while I poured us all drinks and then joined them, sitting on the small couch. Katie and Cook came and joined us shortly after, Katie taking a seat on the box in front of the window and Cook sitting on the floor next to the fireplace. We introduced Gina to Katie and Cook. Kieran, of course, already knew them from our first year of college. Gina and Kieran began telling us all about their trip. They had gone pretty much everywhere, moving on to the next place whenever they felt like a change. They started in New Zealand, before heading to Australia for a while and then on to Fiji, India, China, through Africa and parts of the Middle East, then on to Russia, before coming back home.

Naomi was telling them about our plans to go to Goa in a few weeks and I smiled as she took Gina's hand and held it in her lap. Naomi suddenly stopped talking and stared down at hers and Gina's hands in her lap. She tilted her head to the side and held Gina's hand out flat. "What's with the ring?" she asked. Gina and Kieran smiled at each other over the top of Naomi's head, who was sandwiched between them.

"Well when we were in Saudi Arabia, we spent some time with a Bedouin tribe and we kind of got married." Gina explained. Naomi's mouth dropped as she looked at her mum.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked

"Well it's not really that much of a big deal, I don't think it's even legal over here."

"Not a big deal? You got married!" Naomi said, pulling her mum in to a hug. "Congratulations!" I crossed the room and hugged and congratulated them both. "So does this make you my new Dad then?" Naomi asked, turning to face Kieran.

"Well technically, it makes me your step-dad in certain parts of the Middle East and Africa, but if you want to just consider me you Dad all the time, that's more than fine with me." Kieran said. Naomi rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her.

"I think I'd like you to be my Dad all the time." She said, smiling. I felt my heart swell at the sight and exchanged a smile with Gina. We both knew how hard it had been on Naomi growing up without a dad. She always acted like it didn't bother her, but I knew it did. I knew it made her kind of sad when she saw how close I was with my Dad. Kind of the same way I felt when I saw her with Gina. So I was happy that she was finally getting the family that she had always wanted.

We continued talking for a long time, Gina and Kieran filling us in on their trip, giving us each some souvenirs that they had picked up at various places along the way. We explained that we wouldn't be heading to Goldsmiths this year and were going travelling and then taking some time off, before we both moved to London to study at Goldsmiths the following year, since I had just managed to scrape myself a place there as well. They were fine with our decision and said that they would be living at Kieran's house so that we could stay in the flat.

Katie and Cook disappeared in to the kitchen to start making dinner for all of us. Tim came over just before dinner and we all sat around in the lounge room eating the pasta (apparently the only thing that Katie knows how to cook), since there was no way that all of us would be able to fit around the small kitchen table. We worked our way through a couple of bottles of wine, simply enjoying be in each other's presence. Gina loved Katie and Cook and by the end of the night it seemed like she was pretty much ready to adopt both of them in to the family. Tim got along well with everyone too and invited us to go and see his band play the following week, which Katie, Naomi, Cook and I all agreed to go to.

Eventually Kieran and Gina decided it was time to go home, tired from their long day of travelling. Tim told Naomi and me to borrow his car to drop them at Kieran's place, to save them having to call a taxi. So Naomi and I drove back to Kieran's house with them and helped them unload their things. Once Gina and Kieran were sorted we all congregated on the front porch. I hugged both Gina and Kieran and bid them goodnight, promising to visit them soon. Naomi hugged Gina goodbye and then moved on to Kieran. They held each other close for a moment and I heard Kieran say goodbye to her quietly. "Bye… Dad." I heard her whisper back. The smile on Kieran's face was enough to make tears well up in Gina's eyes. I, too, was struggling to hold back my tears. Naomi and I drove back home, me holding the steering wheel with one hand, holding tight to Naomi's hand with the other.

When we got back home we walked inside and gave Tim his keys back, thanking him for the use of his car. We were just about to go upstairs when Katie pulled me in to the kitchen. "What's up?" I asked her

"I'm going to stay at Tim's tonight, okay?" she told me. I raised my eyebrows at her.

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?" I asked her, wanting to make sure she wasn't feeling pressured in to anything.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yep. Do I need to give him 'the talk'?" I asked, "You know, let him know that if he hurts you I'll hunt him down and kick his arse?"

"Don't you dare!" Katie warned me. I laughed and pulled her in to a hug.

"Okay. Be good. Let me know if you are going to stay out late tomorrow."

"Will do. See ya." She said, and left the kitchen, getting Tim and leaving the house.

I walked out of the kitchen and met Cook at the bottom of the stairs. "I'm heading over to Freddie's," he told me, "Just gonna hang out. I'll probably stay over there tonight."

"Okay, see you tomorrow then." I said. I walked upstairs and entered our bedroom where Naomi was standing, her back to me, getting undressed for bed. "Looks like we have the house to ourselves for the night." I told her, walking over to her and wrapping my arms around her from behind, placing kisses on her bare back.

"Where are Cook and Katie?" she asked.

"Katie is staying at Tim's and Cook is going to Freddie's." I said, dropping my hands from her stomach and playing with the top of her knickers, still kissing between her shoulder blades.

"So we can do whatever we want, wherever we want, as loud as we want?" she asked, turning around in my arms.

"Mmhmm." I answered, pulling her in to a deep kiss. Naomi's hands drifted down my back and she grasped the hem of my shirt, pulling it up over my head and dropping it to the floor. I turned us around and pushed her back on to the bed, so that she was lying down. I kissed her for a moment longer before pulling away and standing up, Naomi propping herself up on her elbows so she could see me. I sexily undid the button on my jeans, keeping eye contact with her, and started pulling them down my legs. My attempt at being seductive came to an abrupt end when they got stuck at my knees. I bent over and wrestled my pants down to my ankles, almost tripping myself in the process. "Damn skinny jeans and how impossible they are to get off." I mumbled. Naomi climbed off the bed and knelt in front of me, gently lifting each foot and pulling my jeans off, before kissing up my thigh and stomach, slowly standing up and kissing up my neck until her lips reached mine and she kissed me passionately, her tongue slipping in to my mouth. Our tongues battled for dominance for a moment before settling in to a rhythm, dancing with each other. I ran my nails down her back, causing her to shudder slightly at my touch. I smiled in to the kiss as I felt the affect I was having on her. I hooked my fingers on to her knickers and slowly pulled them down her legs. She then did the same to me and took a step back, sitting on the edge of the bed, me standing in front of her. Her lips left mine and she placed soft, open-mouthed kisses on my stomach, licking lightly around my belly button, her hands resting just above my bum. I had my hands in her hair, playing with the soft hairs at the base of her neck. I pushed her back gently and she shuffled back on the bed and lied down. I climbed on top of her, between her legs and kissed her hard. Her hands reached around my back and undid my bra. I pulled it off and threw it to the ground. She pulled me up the bed a bit further so that my breasts were right above her face and she pulled a nipple in to her mouth, sucking it, and occasionally biting softly. I let her continue like this for a moment before moving over slightly, allowing her to repeat her actions on the other breast.

I then lowered my body on top of hers, causing her to groan as I rested my hips between her legs, putting pressure on her centre. I could feel that she was wet already and I ran one of my hands down her body and place it between us, easily sliding two fingers inside her. She groaned loudly at my touch, and I began to curl my fingers in side her, my thumb brushing against her clit. Her hips began to rock as my fingers slowly explored her vagina. Naomi was moaning loudly at every touch, her arms around my back, holding me close to her. She sucked on my neck and I continued to thrust in to her, my body weight on top of my hand adding more pressure. I nibbled on her ear and I quickened my motions and within minutes I felt her walls tighten around my fingers and she come, loudly and beautifully below me. I watched as she came, her body shaking against me, calling out my name between the moaning and groaning.

When Naomi had come down from her high, she pulled me in to a passionate kiss and rolled us over so that she was straddling me. She continued to kiss me for a while as her body relaxed and then moved down my body agonizingly slowly. "Naoms, please." I practically begged her, as she kissed along the bottom of my stomach, not quite where I needed her most. She smiled up at me and obliged, spreading my legs and settling herself between them. My hips bucked up as I felt her hot breath on my centre and she tightened her grip on my thighs, holding me in place. She leant forward and kissed my pussy lips, before moving in and licking my slit up and down a couple of times before flicking around my clit and circling it. She continued licking and sucking me, and it only took a couple of minutes for me to come. I expected her to move back up my body once I had come down, but instead she continued to suck and lick, this time adding a couple of fingers and pumping them in and out of me. Within minutes she had got me off again. I came hard, hips trashing about, fingers tightening around Naomi's hair, chest heaving. She let me down slowly, before removing her fingers and sucking them clean, crawling back up my body and collapsing on top of me. We fell asleep in those same positions, me lying on my back, Naomi on top of me, between my legs, her head resting on my chest, my hands still tangled in her hair.

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**So there's chapter 8. Hope it wasn't too horrible for you. **

**I'm suffering from severe lack of motivation at the moment, so are people still in to this? If anyone wants me to continue with it, I'm more than happy to, if no-one cares about it then I probably won't waste my time. Let me know your thoughts...**


	9. Chapter 9

**So I got a bit stuck on this chapter and it has ended up only being about half of what I had originally planned. I'll try and upload the next part tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then definitely by the next day. Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming :) **

**Hope you enjoy.**

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**Chapter 9**

**Katie:**

I opened my eyes and it took me a moment to figure out where I was. I smiled as the memories of the night before came rushing back to me. It had been a great night. I rolled over in the big bed and was disappointed to find it already empty. I sat up and looked around Tim's bedroom. He wasn't in there. I climbed off the bed and crossed to his ensuite bathroom. He wasn't in there either. I walked in to his huge walk-in-robe and looked through a couple of drawers until I found one of his t-shirts and I pulled it over my head. It was way too big for me, obviously, but it smelt nice and was comfy and I didn't really fancy walking around his house completely starkers.

I left the bedroom and walked down the hallway, and in to the kitchen. Tim was standing at the bench, wearing a pair of loose track pants, fixing some things on a tray. I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, hugging him from behind and resting my head on his toned, naked back. He jumped slightly at my touch, not having realised I was behind him, but quickly turned around in my arms and kissed me lightly on the lips. "You weren't supposed to be up yet," he told me, "I was going to bring you breakfast in bed."

"Sorry. I woke up and didn't know where you were so I thought I'd come and find you." I told him.

"That's fine," He said, kissing me again. "Why don't you take a seat, this is just about ready." I sat down at the kitchen table as Tim moved around the kitchen putting the finishing touches to the breakfast. He brought two plates of bacon, eggs, toast, tomatoes and mushrooms and placed one in front of me and one on his side of the table, as well two cups of coffee. He took a seat and we began to eat. "Damn, I forgot the juice." He said, about to stand up to get it.

"I'll get it." I said, jumping to my feet, eager to help, since he made the rest of the breakfast. I pulled the carton of orange juice from the fridge and walked back to the table, standing next to Tim. He went to take the carton from my hand, but when I didn't release it he looked up at me. I smiled and leant forward, catching his lips in a kiss. We started slowly, but it didn't take long for Tim to deepen it, gently running his tongue along my lower lip, requesting access to my mouth. I opened my mouth and allowed his tongue to slip inside. I set the juice down on the table and placed both hands on his neck, still bent over slightly at the waist.

We continued to kiss for a minute, both of us suddenly forgetting our meals that were going cold. We jumped apart hurriedly when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I pulled down on my shirt, making sure I was covered, since I hadn't bothered putting my underwear back on this morning. I looked up and saw a guy, about the same age as Tim standing in the entrance to the kitchen, a mildly amused look on his face. I hoped he hadn't seen too much. "Uh, Katie, this is Nick, my best friend and housemate. Nick, this is Katie," Tim introduced. Nick and I exchanged hellos. Tim must have sensed my discomfort, because he turned to me and said, "There are pants in the third drawer in my walk-in-robe. Feel free to help yourself to whatever you find in there." I thanked him and re-entered his room, finding some track pants and slipping them on. They were far too big, so I rolled the ends up a few times and tied the string tight around my waist. They were better than nothing though, and I didn't feel like putting my skirt back on from last night.

I walked back out to the kitchen and saw that Nick had made himself a bowl of cereal and was now sitting at the table as well. I took my place and made a start on my now cold bacon and eggs. "So," Nick said, looking at me, "You're the one that has been taking up all of Tim's time lately?" I glanced at Tim, feeling a bit awkward at being put on the spot like that.

"Um, I guess so…" I answered.

"Well I hope to see you around here a bit more often. Tim hasn't shut up about you since he met you." Nick said. I looked up at Tim, my smile widening even more than it already was when I saw that he was blushing slightly. I reached my hand across the table and placed it on top of his, rubbing it gently, letting him know that I didn't think he was a dork. He smiled back at me, and the three of us fell in to easy conversation.

When Nick had finished his cereal, he rose from the table and placed it in the sink, and crossed the kitchen. He stopped when he got to the door. "It was nice to meet you, Katie. See you round sometime soon, yeah?"

"Yeah, definitely. See you."

I turned to Tim. "I didn't realise you had a housemate." I told him. Now that I thought about it, it was fairly obvious that he would have a housemate. How else would he be able to afford a house this fancy?

"Yeah, I have a couple, actually. Ben, my brother, lives here too, as well as his best friend, Cameron. Ben, Nick and Cameron are the other guys in my band." He explained. "Sorry, I didn't realise I hadn't mentioned that they live here."

"So how come you managed to get the room with the ensuite and big wardrobe?" I asked him.

"Well we made a deal when we moved in here. None of the others can cook, so we decided that I can have the good room, as long as I cook dinner for us all most nights."

"Fair enough." I said. So a guy that is happy to cook, I thought. Definitely a bonus. We finished our breakfast and returned to the bedroom, wasting no time in undressing each other and, once again, disappearing beneath the covers.

It was about midday when we finally emerged, deciding it was probably time I got back home, before Emily started worrying about me. Tim drove me home and walked me to the door, kissing me goodbye and promising to message me later. I walked in to the lounge room, where Emily and Naomi were cuddled together on the sofa watching a movie. I crossed the room self-consciously, knowing they were taking in the over-sized pants and shirt I was still wearing, and took a seat on the smaller sofa. I looked over at them and saw them both staring at me, huge grins plastered across their faces. "So what have you been up to?" Naomi asked me. I attempted to keep a straight face and act cool, but failed miserably when I thought about how great our night and morning had been, a huge smile spreading across my face.

"That good, huh?" Emily asked, still smiling.

"Ohh, it was amazing. He is amazing. He's so loving and gentle, and-"

"Woah, woah, woah! That's enough!" Emily said, cutting me off.

"Jesus Katie. Seriously, what makes you think we want to hear about you heterosexual escapades?" Naomi asked, clearly disgusted at the idea of me having sex with a man.

"What? It's not like I don't have to put up with you two and your kinky ways all the time." I said. It was true. I was constantly walking in and finding them making out or feeling each other up on the couch, or in the yard, or in their room, or anywhere else they felt like it. And when they weren't doing that, they were making comments and shooting each other lovey-dovey looks enough to make any sick.

"Yeah, well it's our house. And we would never actually tell you what we were like in bed." Emily said.

"Okay, I think it's time to change the subject." I said, starting to get disturbed.

"Yes, please do." Naomi practically begged.

"So you had a good time then?" Emily asked me, getting back on track.

"Yes, I did." I answered.

"When are you seeing him again?"

"Not sure yet, I'm going to talk to him later. He's going to London to visit his family the day after tomorrow and staying there for the weekend. So I'll probably see him tomorrow so I can see him before he goes. And then we are all going to see his band play next week, remember?"

Emily, Naomi and I spent the rest of the day just hanging out, talking, and watching movies. When Cook announced that he was going to the pub with Freddie, we called Effy and she came over, bringing pizza and vodka. We spent the night eating crap, watching more movies, talking, laughing and getting more and more drunk as the night progressed. It was the early hours of the morning when we finally dragged ourselves to bed, Effy sharing my mattress with me, since Cook was going to stay at Freddie's again.

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**Cook:**

I spent the night at Uncle Keith's pub with Freddie and JJ, just like old times. Free drinks, a plate of hot chips and no girls getting between us. Just like it was used to be, back in the old days. I was sick of letting Effy come between us, so I decided we just needed to suck it up and be friends again. We left the pub around midnight, JJ the only one still mildly sober and stumbled our way back to Freddie's shed, collapsing on the sofa/armchair/wherever we landed. It had been a good night.

I woke sometime around midday, face down on the hard ground of Freddie's shed. I lifted my pounding head and looked around. Freddie was still asleep in the armchair and there was a note on the sofa where JJ had slept, saying that he had gone home already.

I decided to head back home, since Freds was still asleep and there wasn't much to do here. I walked home slowly, appreciating the fresh air that was making my headache much more bearable. As I came over the hill that leads to Naomi's house, I saw Tim sitting on the front steps. He looked up as he heard me approach. "Hey man, what are you doing?" I asked him.

"Just waiting for Katie. We were going to hang out, but she's not home yet and I don't think anyone else is in." He explained.

"Oh. Where is Katie?"

"Walking Effy home. I just called her, she said she will be home soon."

"Righto. Well come on in then, you might as well wait inside." I pulled out my set of house keys that Naomi had got cut for me when I moved in. We walked inside and I grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge, passing one to Tim and pointing him to the lounge room. He took a seat on the sofa and I sat on the box in front of the window. We sat in an awkward silence for a moment, neither of us quite sure what to say to each other.

"So…" I began eventually, "How's things with Katie?"

"They're good. Really good." He said, a slight smile gracing his face.

"Things starting to get serious?" I asked, curious as to what Katie and Tim's relationship meant to him. I hadn't actually talked to Katie about it, but I could tell that she liked him a lot and I wanted to make sure he was in it for the right reasons and wasn't planning to dump her as soon as he got what he wanted.

"Yeah, I think so." He said. "I really like her. I can really see this going somewhere." He said it so genuinely, I had no choice but to believe him. This guy was whipped. It didn't take a genius to see that.

"Look, man, I don't mean to sound like a douche, but just so you know… if you do anything to hurt Katie, or upset her in any way, you'll have me to answer to. I care about that girl a lot and I don't want to see anything happen to her." I said seriously, feeling like it was my job to let him know, since Katie didn't really have anyone else to do it for her, and Emily and Effy weren't all that scary.

"You have nothing to worry about mate," he told me, "hurting Katie is the last thing I want to do. Like I said, I really like her."

Once that was out of the way, we fell in to easy conversation. Tim was really funny. He was easy to talk to, and I'm definitely not the type to make small talk. When Katie arrived home from walking Effy home, I went upstairs, giving them some room.

The following week we all went to see Tim's band play. He introduced us to his brother and friends who were in the band with them and we had a drink together before their set started. They band was great. They were called 'Ellipsis', and they played kind of alternative-folk-rock music. I hadn't been expecting to like it when Katie told me what they were like, but they really were great. Tim had a great voice, and put together with his acoustic guitar, Ben's keyboard, Cameron's bass, and Nick's drums, they had a great sound. When they had finished their set they all joined us at the bar and we had a few drinks, talking, laughing and dancing along to the band that played after them. Ben, Nick and Cameron were great, too. Freddie took quite quickly to Cameron, the two of them sharing an interest in skateboarding. Katie was clinging to Tim's arm the entire night, and he seemed equally reluctant to leave her side.

We stayed out drinking and partying until the early hours of the morning, eventually piling in to a couple of taxis and all going back to our place, continuing the party there for a while before all crashing wherever we could find a place. Naomi, Emily in their bed, Effy on the sofa in their room and Freddie on the floor. Katie, Tim and Nick all crashed on the mattress in mine and Katie's room and me, Cameron and Ben all passed out in the lounge room, Ben on the sofa, me on the floor and Cameron, somehow, under the coffee table. Those guys definitely knew how to party. It had been good to get to know Tim and his friends a bit better and it was nice to see Katie truly happy for a change, rather than pining over Thomas. It had been a great night. So great, in fact, that I didn't even regret it when I woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache, bloodshot eyes, and a burnt-out spliff still between my fingers that I must have been smoking before I passed out.

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**Hope that was okay. I'll update again soon.**

**By the way... 'Ellipsis' is my friends band. Obviously I changed the band members' names for this story, but they really are brilliant. So if you happen to be in Adelaide, keep your eye out for them, they play gigs around town every few weeks.**


	10. Chapter 10

**This is a bit of a shorter chapter. i've had half and hour sleep in the past 44 hours, so my attention span is not at its best. Bloody world cup making me get up at all hours of the morning. However it was totally worth it to see Brett Holman's goal in the Australia-Serbia game. Fecking brilliant. Anybody agree?**

**Anyway. i have the next chapter almost finished so the next chapter will be up soon.**

**Thanks for the reviews. Chuck us some more if you get a chance - they are always appreciated.**

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**Chapter 10**

**Naomi:**

The next couple of weeks went by amazingly fast, me and Emily busy making the last minute plans for our trip to Goa. Mum and Kieran had agreed to drive us to London and we were going to get a plane from there to Delhi. From there, Emily had wanted to get a train from Delhi to Goa, saying that she wanted to experience India properly, and not just spend heaps of money to make things easier. I however, had not been so keen on the idea of spending over 30 hours on a train and managed to convince her to let us get a plane, reminding her that the less time we had to spend travelling, the more time we got to spend on the beach, in the hotel, or anywhere else we felt like it. We booked our accommodation, bought the new clothes we were both in need of, packed our stuff, and did everything else that we had to do before we left, and before we knew it, we were at the airport. We checked our luggage in and did all that other shit they make you do. I don't know why they make you come so early, it takes about five minutes to do what you need to do and then hours of waiting around. So now me, Emily, Mum, Kieran and Katie, who had accompanied us to London, were sitting in one of the many over-priced coffee shops that the airport offered for people who had hours of waiting to do, all of us struggling to stay awake and make coherent conversation from having to leave so fucking early this morning.

Eventually it was time for Emily and I to board the plane, so we bid Mum, Kieran and Katie goodbye, promising to let them know when we arrived in India and we left, for our first holiday as a couple. The flight to Delhi took just over 8 hours and was pretty uneventful. Except for a quick, uhh, "bathroom break" that Emily had initiated about 4 hours in to the monotonous flight. Once we were in Delhi, we spent a few hours wandering around the airport waiting for the flight that would take us straight to Goa. That flight, though shorter, was even less eventful than the first, Emily not so eager for a quick trip to the bathroom together this time.

We finally made it out of the airport, lugging our suitcases though the crowd of Indians that had flooded to Vasco da Gama for the summer. We finally made it in to a bus that would take us to just outside the city, to the hotel that we were planning on staying in for the first 2 weeks, before treating ourselves and staying in a fancy beach-front hut for the last 2. We got off the bus and stepped in to the rain, running as fast as we could with our luggage to the shelter out the front of the hotel. "You didn't tell me that coming here in summer meant it was monsoon season, Fitch." I complained.

"I didn't realise you didn't know that." She answered.

"Well sorry that I was too busy booking flights and accommodation to check out ."

"And I'm very grateful for that," Emily said, standing on her tiptoes to kiss me lightly on the lips. "Beside," she said, brushing my wet hair out of my face, "The rain means there will be less people on the beach, so there are bound to be times when we have it all to ourselves." I liked the sound of that. I took her hand and lead her toward the big glass doors to the hotel reception.

"Good idea to come in the rain season." I told her as we walked. She smiled at me.

Our room was a lot nicer than I thought it would be. We didn't have heaps of money so we decided to go for a fairly cheap place, figuring we probably wouldn't be spending too much time in our room anyway. We spent a few minutes exploring our room, lying on the bed, checking out the bathroom, looking in the mini bar, going out on the balcony. I was pleasantly surprised with how nice it was. It was just one big room and then the bathroom, but it was quite spacious. When you walked in, the bathroom was to the left and a kitchen area to the right. Next to the kitchen was a small dining table and a sofa and 2 armchairs around a TV. Opposite the living area and next to the bathroom was a big queen-size bed. The bathroom was simple, but clean. It had a toilet, sink and a big shower/bath.

After we had explored what was going to be our home for the next two weeks, we decided to take a shower, cleansing of ourselves of the last 20 or so hours of cars, planes and packed busses. We stripped off in the bathroom and stepped in to the bath, running the shower and gently scrubbing each other's bodies. Our shower became more passionate when Emily ran her hand between my legs and I suddenly became a lot more wet than I already was. I pulled Emily in to a deep kiss, and she gently guided me down so that I was sitting in the empty bath, tongues still engaged in a furious battle. Emily spread my legs and knelt between then, hand between our bodies, fingers running up and down my slit. I pushed Emily's knees apart – thank god the bath was nice and big – and brushed my fingers over her clit. She shuddered visibly and I smiled inwardly at the effect I managed to have on her every time. It didn't matter if we were in our bed at home, at the lake, in a squashy plane lavatory, or in a bath in Goa, I was always able to have the same affect on her, and every time, it never failed to amaze me.

I inserted two fingers inside her and curled them, feeling her do the same to me. She brushed her thumb against my clit, and leant forward, wrapped one arm around my neck and kissed me hard on the lips. I copied her actions and began to bump my thumb against her clit every time I pumped my fingers in and out. Her hips began to thrust against my hand and I quickened my actions slightly, giving her what she wanted, but not wanting it to be over to quickly. I felt Emily begin to pump her fingers in and out of me and our lips slowed, neither of us able to think about kissing any longer. Our breathing was growing ragged and Emily tightened her grip around my neck, pulling me closer to her. I could feel her heavy panting in my ear. I bit down softly on her shoulder and wrapped my free arm around her back, digging my nails in to her shoulder as the sensations going on below grew to an incredible level.

I could hear moaning, but I have no idea who it was coming from – probably both of us. My hips began to thrust forward at her every touch. I could feel myself get close, and I knew that she wouldn't last much longer either. Her grip around my neck tightened even more and she began to suck on my neck, biting down lightly. I felt her body stiffen and her fingers slowed inside me as I brought her to the edge of her climax. "I love you." I whispered, and I heard her whisper the same words in my ear at the same time. We both came then, violently, hips thrashing about, our fingers still working inside the other as we much as we could as we trembled through our orgasms together. It was one of the most beautiful things I think I had ever experienced. There was something so amorous about both of us coming together, carrying each other through our climax simultaneously. It felt like we truly were one, like we were sharing the same orgasm, not separate ones. It really was breathtaking. There could not have been a better way to start our holiday together.

Once we had regained use of our limbs, we climbed out of the bath, toweled ourselves off and made our way to the main room, collapsing on to the big bed and making love to each other, over and over again, until we were simply too exhausted from the travelling and lovemaking that we were physically unable to stay awake any longer. We pulled the covers over our naked bodies and I spooned my body around Emily's, holding her tightly, our fingers intertwined in front of her chest.

We stayed in bed late the next day; recovering from the tiring day we had had the day before. Eventually we dragged ourselves downstairs to the hotel restaurant in time for lunch and helped ourselves to the large buffet they had on offer. We decided to leave the sight seeing for the next day, returning to our room to find our bathers and headed down to the beach. Emily was right. The rain was keeping most of the tourists away from the coast and we walked along the beach, golden sand beneath our bare feet, until we found a beautifully secluded place, a bend in the coast line hiding it from the few people that had braved the beach in such shitty weather, a few large palm trees providing a little bit of shelter from the afternoon showers. Despite the rain, the temperature was lovely and warm, making the temperature of the water perfect for swimming. We stayed in the water for an hour or so, before retreating to the shelter of the palm trees. The rain had stopped for a moment and we spread out on the sand soaking in the rays of sun and warmth that were now beaming through the rain clouds.

It didn't take long for things to get a bit heated. And I don't just mean temperature wise. After laying in the sun for a while, holding hands, I rolled over and lowered my body on top of Emily's and proceeded to make perfect love to her, as the rain began to fall lightly on our naked bodies once again.

We spent the rest of the day on the beach, swimming, sunbathing and making love. So far, it had definitely been the perfect start to our holiday.

We spent the next two weeks visiting a lot of the tourist sights, learning the history of Goa during the day, making the most of the extremely cheap alcohol that you could get in Goa at night. There was a few Irish people – two guys and a girl – staying at the same hotel as us and we hung out together most nights, either hitting a local bar, the beach or just hanging out in one of our rooms. Patrick, Tommy and Jess were good company. They were slightly older than us, in Goa celebrating finishing their first year of university. They were extremely accepting of our lifestyle and they definitely knew how to drink and have a good time.

When we decided to come to Goa, I knew that Emily was wanting to do some work in some of the poorer areas of India. She wanted to help people as much as she could, even if the only way she was able to help them was by visiting them and bringing a smile to their face. So I organized for us to take a day trip out of Goa, in to one of the poorer areas of India and we visited an orphanage that housed children aged from birth to 15, whose parents had died and had no other family to take care of them. Most of the children there were babies, or kids under the age of 5. When we asked why this was, they explained to us that once the children reached 5, a lot of them managed to find work, just doing simple things for the richer families. Others that came from wealthy families themselves were sent to boarding school once they reached an appropriate age to be educated. So during the day, most of the children were just the younger ones.

Emily and I spent the whole day in the orphanage, mostly just playing with the kids, but also helping out with some of the cleaning and cooking that the workers there had to do. The orphanage didn't get much funding and they couldn't afford to pay someone to cook or clean, they just had to do everything themselves, on top of looking after the children. So needless to say, they were always eager to have people helping them.

After spending the whole day among the children, Emily had developed a close bond with a 2-year-old called Taranjeet and a 4-year-old called Theraka. She had also spent a lot of time in the nursery, feeding the young babies, playing simple baby games with them, and making them smile. It got quite late and most of the children were already being put to bed and I knew that we were going to have to leave if we wanted to get the train back to Goa that night. I finished tucking in the girls that all shared one large bedroom and went of in search of Emily. I found her in the nursery, feeding a bottle to a little baby boy, whose parents had both died of AIDS. Suddenly the thought of AIDS being catchy wasn't so funny. I approached Emily and told her that we should probably leave, and she finished feeding the baby the bottle and placed him gently in his crib. We walked to the door and Emily stopped and rested against the doorframe, watching the babies sleep. I saw she had a tear in her eyes and I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight as she watched the sleeping orphans. "Ems?" I whispered in her ear.

"Yeah?" she answered quietly.

"What do you say, when we've finished uni and are all grown up and everything… how about we come back here and adopt a couple for ourselves?" Emily turned to look at me, a mixture of shock and joy written on her face.

"Really?" She asked me, as if she wasn't quite sure if I was telling the truth or just joking around.

"Really. I mean, why not? I know you've always wanted a family and I wasn't so sure, but since I've been with you, I'm warming up to the idea a bit more. And spending the day here with the kids, and watching you play with them and look after them… I know now that it is definitely something that I want at some stage. Not right away. In a few years time, when we are set up and can look after them properly. I want to spend my life with you, Emily Fitch. I want to have kids, and see them grow up and then have grandkids. And obviously we can't have kids by natural methods, so why not come back here and adopt? We can give them the life they deserve, the life that they won't be able to get if they are stuck here." I was about to continue talking, explaining all my reasons and feelings about why we should adopt some kids, but was cut short by Emily kissing me hard on the mouth. She pulled back after a moment and wrapped her arms tightly around my neck tangling her fingers in my hair. I wrapped my arms around her waist and squeezed her back, equally tight.

"You are amazing, Naomi Campbell. You are really fucking perfect. All those things you said, that's what I want too. I don't mind how it happens, or when it happens, but I want to grow old with you. I want to see our kids grow and go to uni and then get married and start families of their own."

We held each other tight for a while before I remembered that we were supposed to be heading to the train station and I took her hand and lead her out of the orphanage, not letting go until we were back in our hotel room in Goa. Once again, we lost ourselves among the sheets and I can honestly say that it was, without a doubt, the most passionate night of my life, both of us celebrating our love for each other in the best way we knew how. It was so much more than just sex. It was a promise, a covenant that we would always be together, that we wanted to the same things, that we were in it for the long haul, pledging to spend the rest of our lives together, trying our very hardest to make each other happy. We didn't need expensive rings, or big parties and white dresses. For us this was real. All that other stuff, they are just symbols of what we already felt. That night, that promise – that was our marriage certificate.

And that was the moment, more than any other moment before, that I knew that Emily and I would be together forever. All the shit that we had been through in the past, that was over. We were done messing around. I wasn't stupid; I knew it wouldn't always be easy. Every couple had their problems and I was under no illusion that our lives would be perfect. There would always be some kind of complications. But as we lay tangled in the sheets, naked bodies together, whispering words of love and devotion in my lover's ear, and hearing her whisper them back, I knew that no matter what shit the world threw at us, we would be able to work through it, together. She was my girlfriend, my best friend, the love of my life and I knew, with absolute certainty, that that is what she would always be to me, until we breathed our last breaths, and maybe even beyond that.

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**OK, so I edited this whole chapter and pressed save and my laptop decided to take that opportunity to tell me that it had disconnected from the internet. So I had to start over. But I didn't do a very good job so sorry if there are mistakes... there probably are...**


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter is quite long, so sorry if it's boring but it is quite important for the rest of the story. Hope you manage to stick through it.**

**Also, I've said before that I'm happy to receive good reviews as well as bad reviews, and I definitely am, but if you're going to leave a bad one, at least say why you think it's shit so that I can try and improve. But like I said, all reviews are appreciated.**

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**Chapter 11**

**Katie:**

There was this idea that true love can't really exist when you are 18. They say you can't really understand love until you're all grown up and respectable and mature. Seeing Emily and Naomi together made me sure that all that talk was just that – talk. It was all bullshit. It doesn't matter how old you are, if you meet someone, you can fall in love with them, no matter your age, no matter your gender, or anything else. None of that stuff mattered. I thought it did once, but I know now that it doesn't. I had grown up in a family where my parents loved each other unconditionally. Yeah, they had to work really fucking hard at it sometimes, but they always managed to work through it. And then Emily had run of in to the sunset with the love of her life. And now I was beginning to understand just what my parents, and Emily and Naomi, JJ and Lara, Panda and Thomas and Effy and Freddie felt when they looked at each other.

I spent almost all of my free time with Tim over the next two weeks. We caught up when he finished work in the evenings, normally just hanging out at someone's house. Occasionally he took me on a date, out to a restaurant or to the movies or something. Sometimes we went to a club with the others, sometimes we just went to someone's house. Sometimes we had sex, and sometimes we didn't. It didn't matter what we were doing, we just liked being in each other's company. I found myself falling incredibly fast for him. He was amazing. He always put me first, considering my feelings, doing whatever I felt like doing, staying wherever I felt like staying, buying me things, being there for me when I was feeling lonely, giving me space when I was feeling cramped. He really was fucking incredible. We hadn't actually told each other that we loved each other, but I knew that I was beginning to fall in love with him, and from the way he treated me, the way he looked at me, the way he touched me, I was pretty sure that he felt the same way.

When Emily and Naomi left for Goa, they told me that I could have their room, and that Tim was welcome to stay over, as long as I made sure I put clean sheets on the bed before they came home. I didn't use it very often. If Tim and me were spending the night together we normally stayed at his house. And on the nights when Tim and me weren't together, I still stayed the spare room with Cook. We still slept on the mattress on the ground. We still stayed up late talking and playing cards when one or both of us couldn't sleep. Cook was fast becoming one of my best friends. I guess living with him meant that I shared more with him than I did with most other people. Effy was still my best friend, but Cook was not too far behind her. As the days turned in to weeks, we began to spend more time together, Cook joining Tim and me when we went to the pub or a club, or sitting in the lounge room with us while we watched a movie. Tim and Cook were becoming quite close too. They were both easy to get along with, and I loved the fact that my boyfriend and my best guy friend/roommate got along well.

At some stage, during the many nights that Cook and I stayed up late talking to each other, our conversations had transformed from being lighthearted chatting, to becoming more intense heart to hearts. He told me about how in love with Effy he had been and how he thought he was finally over her, for real this time. I told him about the shit my family had been through with the house and my dad's gym a few months earlier. I told him about how I wasn't getting along with my parents and that my Mum had kicked me out of home, which was how I ended up living with Emily and Naomi.

"Do you ever think about the future Katiekins?" Cook asked, out of the blue one night. It was already quite late, having talked and played cards for quite a while already. We were lying on the mattress and I had thought that Cook was already asleep.

"Yeah, I guess so." I answered. I didn't like thinking about the future much. It just reminded me that it wasn't going to be the future I had always hoped for.

"What do you think about?" Cook asked me. I wasn't sure how to answer that. I didn't know if I was ready to tell him that I couldn't have kids. I was silent for a moment and Cook must have taken that as me being angry with him for prying. "I'm sorry Katie, you don't have to answer that, I shouldn't even have asked." He rushed, trying to fix the situation he thought he had ruined.

"No, it's fine. It's just… I don't really like to think or talk about the future very much. It just reminds me that it's never going to be what you want."

"Talking about it can help, you know." Cook told me. I knew he wasn't trying to make me tell him, he was just concerned for a friend.

"You sound like fucking Effy." I said, laughing slightly. It was true, he did. She was always trying to make me talk about my feelings, claiming that it would make me fee better in the long run.

"Yeah, well, Effy's… you know… clever. She knows what she's talking about. Most of the time." Cook said. I had to agree with him.

We lay on the mattress in silence for a moment, before I broke it, not even meaning to. "I can't have children." I blurted out. He rolled on to his side, propped his head up on his hand and looked at me closely.

"What?"

"I… I can't have kids." I told him, slightly calmer this time.

"Wh…why not?" Cook asked, clearly slightly taken aback at my sudden confession.

"Premature menopause. It's sort of complicated, probably nothing you would want to hear about. But it means I can't have children. Ever." I explained to him. He shuffled closer to me and wrapped his arms around me, reminding me of the way I had comforted Emily in here after the barbeque all those months ago. I leant in to Cook's touch and he held me close, his strong arms providing an unexpected comfort in a way I hadn't experienced before. I felt Cook brush the tears off my cheeks. I hadn't even realised I had been crying, but once I realised, the tears started to flow, streaming down my face, wetting Cook's bare chest. He continued to hold me tight, not saying anything, simply rocking me slightly, rubbing my back, and running his fingers through my hair occasionally.

After a while I pulled back, eyes puffy, cheeks wet from the tears. Cook grabbed a hanky from beside the mattress and gently dried my eyes, me too out of it to even wonder whether it was a clean hanky or not. We sat next to each other in the bed, slightly apart from each other, but still holding hands, him sensing I wasn't ready to be left alone quite yet. "Do you want to talk about it?" Cook asked, squeezing my hand slightly.

"Nah, it's okay. There's not really that much to say, I think I just needed a good cry. I guess I'm still trying to process it a bit." I told him.

"That's fine. Just remember that if you ever do want to talk about it, or about anything else, I will be here to listen to you. Always." I leaned over and pecked him on the cheek, and we both lay down on the mattress, preparing to go to sleep. I was just dozing off when I felt Cook brush my fringe out of my eyes and kiss me lightly on the forehead. "Any guy would be lucky to have you, Katiekins. Never forget that." I don't know whether he meant for me to hear it, or whether he thought I was asleep, but I just stayed still, appreciating the brief moment of Cook's openness and honesty, not wanting to ruin it by speaking or moving.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of my message tone echoing through the otherwise silent room. I looked at the screen and saw that I had a message from Tim. **Come downstairs, im at the door xo **it said. I stood up and left the room quietly, trying not to disturb Cook who had somehow managed to stay asleep through my phone ringing. I rushed down the stairs, excited to see why Tim was here so early when we hadn't made any plans to catch up today. I opened the door and he smiled, as he looked me up and down, taking in my short satin boxer shorts and matching singlet. I realised he had never seen me in my pyjamas before. If he spent the night together we didn't bother with pyjamas and every other time was saw each other I was already dressed. He pulled a bouquet of roses out from behind his back and passed them to me. I took them and looked at him curiously, wondering what the occasion was. "What are these for?" I asked him. He smiled.

"As of today, we have been together for one month." He said. I froze awkwardly, trying to figure out what the date was, feeling guilty that I hadn't even realised. "It's okay, I knew you hadn't realised." He assured me. He leant in and kissed me lightly on the lips. "Hello, by the way." He said as he pulled away.

"Hello." I said back, pulling him back down in to another kiss, deeper this time. I ran my tongue over his lower lip and felt him open his mouth and took the opportunity to slide my tongue against his. We stood like that for a moment and I felt him push me back so that my back was pressed against the wall. I clasped my hand around the back of his neck, playing with his short hair. His lips left mine and went down my neck, placing light kisses over my throat and shoulder. His hands slowly crept from where they rested on my hips, to the front of my stomach. I felt him slip his hands under the thin material of my top and ran his fingers lightly across the tight muscles of my stomach. His hand started to drift higher and I figured I better stop this before it went too far, right in the entrance hall, front door still open. I pushed him back slightly. "I better put these in water." I told him, nodding to the flowers I still held in my hand. He nodded and closed the front door, took my hand and lead me in to the kitchen.

I found a vase in one of the cupboards in the kitchen, filled it with water and arranged the roses in it. I turned back to face Tim, who was resting against the kitchen bench. "I'm sorry I forgot." I told him, "I don't have anything for you have anything planned or anything."

"That's fine," he said "I have a plan and I didn't really get you anything, just the roses."

"The roses are more than enough." I told him, knowing how expensive they can be. And this bunch was beautiful. I had no doubt that it had probably set him back a fair bit. "So what's your plan then?" I asked him, intrigued.

"It's a surprise. So go on upstairs, get dressed quickly and then come back down here and we'll go."

"Okay, I'll be as quick as I can, but I need to have a shower and wash my hair and do my make up and everything." I told him, eager to go, but still wanting to look nice.

"Your hair is lovely, and makeup couldn't make you look any more beautiful than you already are." He said, kissing the back of my hand. "Seriously, just get changed. Wear something comfortable though, we will be driving for a bit."

I went upstairs and entered my room. Normally Cook would leave the room whenever I was getting changed, or I would change in Emily's room or the bathroom or something, but since he was still asleep I figured I would just get changed in there. I crossed the room and took off my shorts and top, standing in front of the wardrobe in just my knickers, trying to decide what to wear. I pulled on some jeans and opened the drawer to get a bra out but couldn't find one. I turned around, planning to get one from the pile of clean washing I had brought up here yesterday but hadn't folded away yet. I turned around to find Cook lying on the mattress, staring at me. "Jesus Christ Cook!" I shouted, covering my boobs with my arms. "What the fuck? You could have told me that you were awake!"

"Sorry! I've seen you close enough to naked loads of times, I didn't think it would matter." I crossed the room and grabbed a bra, pulling it on with my back to Cook, making sure he couldn't see anything. It didn't really matter that he has seen me, he was one of my best friends and I knew that he didn't see me as anything more than that so it wasn't really a big deal, I just wasn't too keen on the thought of my roommate checking me out whenever I got changed. There was a light knock on the door and Tim poked his head in.

"Everything okay?" he asked, probably concerned by hearing me shout at Cook.

"Yeah, it's fine." I told him, waking back to the wardrobe to find a shirt.

"What happened?" Tim persisted.

"Nothing. I got changed in here thinking that Cook was asleep but it turned out he wasn't. It's not a big deal." I explained, pulling a t-shirt over my head. I saw Tim look at Cook, a look on his face that I had never seen before. He did not look happy. "It's fine Tim, it doesn't matter." I assured him, pulling on a hoodie and taking his hand to lead him from the bedroom. We were just about to close the door behind us when I heard Cook's voice.

"Nice tits though, Katiekins." He said. Tim and I both spun around to look at him, me slightly amused but shocked that he had said that when Tim clearly wasn't too happy with the thought of Cook seeing me almost naked. Tim pushed the door fully open and took a step closer to Cook, looking like he was about ready to kill him. I didn't let go of Tim's hand, holding him back from doing anything stupid. He looked really angry.

"Woah, chill out man, I was just kidding around." Cook said, sitting up on the mattress.

"Tim, relax, it's really not a big deal." I told him, pulling on his hand in attempt to make him leave the room. Tim looked at me and nodded once, forcing a smile. He looked back and glared at Cook briefly before placing his arm around my shoulder and leaving the room.

We left the house and hoped in to Tim's car, both sitting in silence for a moment, waiting for Tim to the car. He still didn't look too happy so I thought I should probably try and explain. "Tim, I promise, it really wasn't a-"

"I know, it's fine." Tim cut me off. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lose it like I did up there. I just didn't like the way he looked at you."

"I know, that's Cook though. It's just what he does, he doesn't mean anything by it."

"Right. Lets just forget it and have a good day then yeah?" Tim said, starting the car.

"Yes, lets." I said, taking his hand as he pulled away from the curb.

We drove for a few hours, heading out in to the country. I had no idea where we were going or what Tim had planned and he refused to tell me, not matter how much I begged him to fill me in. Tim had made a couple of thermoses of hot coffee and we sipped those as we drove, munching on some snacks that he had packed for us. We stopped just before midday at a small café in a tiny country town. He ordered us some fancy sandwiches and salads and requested that they make it for take-away. He brought a couple of bottles of juice and we sat at a small table holding hands while we waited for our order to be ready. When they brought it over to us, Tim lead us back to the car and started driving again. We drove for about 20 minutes, seeing nothing but fields and the occasional house.

Eventually Tim pulled up outside a gate and got out and unlocked it and pushed it open. He got back in the car and drove through the gate, getting out again to lock it behind him. We drove for about five minutes down the dirt road. There were heaps of trees lining either side of the road. So many that I could no longer see past them, I could only see the winding road that lay ahead of us. Eventually we came around a bend and saw a huge house in front of us. It was extremely old and didn't look like it was being looked after very well. The garden was over-grown and full of weeds, yet there was still something about it that was beautiful. Tim stopped the car in front of the big house and we looked up at it for a moment, before he hopped out and came around to my side and opened the door for me. I took the hand the he offered me and stepped out of the car.

The house was made from mud brick, painted in what would have once been an off-white colour, but was now covered in dirt. It was two stories, and had dormer windows in the roof, coming from what I assumed would be an attic. The dirty shutters hung from the windows, decaying, most of the paint stripped off. There was a big porch on the front of the house, with steps leading up to it, the railing collapsed on one side. The roof was made from big sheets of tin that were showing the signs of rust.

Tim walked to the front of the house and walked up the steps to the porch, looking at me, waiting for me to follow. I stopped when I got to the stairs and looked up at him, unsure. "Don't worry, it's safe." He told me, "I know it doesn't look it, but it is." I climbed the stairs and Tim took my hand as we walked to the front door. He pulled an old fashioned key out of his pocket and used it to unlock the big old lock on the front door. He pushed the door open and I slowly walked inside. From the outside of the house I expected the inside to be just as dirty and old as the front of the house but I was surprised. I could tell that the floorboards, though covered in a thin layer of dust, were quite shiny. The curtains on the windows were a pale yellow, contrasting nicely with the cream coloured walls. Big white sheets covered all the furniture, but I could make out the shapes of some sofas, a coffee table, some lamps, and what I thought was probably a big bookshelf. Tim crossed the big room and opened the curtains, allowing light to fill the room.

"This is the house where my Mum grew up." He told me, "And where I lived until I was 15." He had a sad look on his face and I walked over to him and hugged him. This was the first time I had heard him mention his Mum, except for when I first met him and he told me that she had died. Tim walked over to one of the sofas and pulled the sheet off to reveal a winged sofa. It was clearly old, but was in surprisingly good condition. He dropped the sheet to the ground and sat on the sofa, patting the seat next him, indicating for me to join him. I sat down next to him and he took my hand and held it in his lap.

"My great, great, great grandparents built this house in 1894, just after they got married. My great, great, great, great Grandfather owned some fancy business in the next town and they were one of the richest families around. So when their son, my great, great, great grandfather got married, they paid for them to build this house. And it has been in the family ever since. It was always passed on to the oldest child. Once the oldest child got married, their parents would move to a smaller house on this property, just a couple of minutes away. Originally it had been the house for the servants, but my great, great Grandfather hated having people doing things for him, so when he inherited the house, he turned the servants quarters in to another house, so that when their son got married, he and my great, great grandmother would have a place to live. My parents and grandparents and everyone all had kids quite young, so when my grandparents moved out, my great grandparents were still alive, so the shared the other house for a while. So it went on like that for a few generations. When my Mum married my Dad, my grandparents moved to the other house with my great grandparents and my Mum inherited this place. So my Mum and Dad lived here, and this is where Ben, me, Jacob and Rebecca were all brought up. We lived here and went to school a bit further up the road. My grandparents lived just a minute away and we used to visit them after school everyday. And they used to come over here for dinner almost every night." I smiled as Tim told me his story, not saying anything, knowing that this was something he needed to tell me, and I was content to just listen.

"I know it's kind of weird, but my Grandfather was pretty much my best friend. Our whole family was really close and I used to spend pretty much all my free time with him. When I think back to growing up here, the main thing I remember is spending time in the garden with my Grandfather. He was always out there, planting vegetables, or mowing the lawn, or watering his flowers. I know it doesn't seem like it now, by the gardens here used to beautiful. We used to have people asking if they could have weddings here because the grounds were so nice. We even had some people from a gardening magazine come here a couple of times to take photos. But when my grandma died when I was 11, he lost interest. He died not long after. He was only 60 years old. They are both buried here. So are my great grandparents, great, great grandparents, and my great, great, great grandparents. There is a little place a bit further out, where my great, great, great grandfather buried his wife when she died. After that everyone just got buried there. My Mum is buried there as well." He squeezed my hand when he said those last words and I could see he was trying not to cry. I squeezed his hand back, rubbing my thumb over his smooth skin, letting him know that I was there and that he should continue.

"So after my grandparents died, it was just my family here. When I was 15 my Mum was walking with our dog out near a river that flows near here. The dog went close to the water and my Mum followed him. It had been raining a bit earlier that day and the banks were a bit muddy. She slipped over and hit her head on a rock. She was okay, she walked back to the house and my Dad drove her to the hospital just to make sure she was okay. They said she was fine and that she just had a concussion so they kept her in for the night but then let her go home, just telling her to rest lots. So she came home but she didn't seem to be getting any better. She started complaining that she couldn't see clearly and she started slurring her words. Dad called an ambulance, but it took them a while to get here because the closest hospital is two towns away. By the time they got here Mum was in a pretty bad way. We found out after that she had had a minor stroke sometime between dad calling the ambulance and them actually arriving, but since she couldn't talk properly anyway, and she had already pretty much lost her eye sight and wasn't really moving, there was no way of us knowing." Tim had tears running down his cheeks now as he continued to tell me. I squeezed his hand even tighter.

"So the ambulance got here and they took her to the hospital. Dad went in the ambulance with them, and Ben drove Jacob and Rebecca to our Aunty and Uncle's place, who live just a few minutes away. Then him and me went to meet Dad at the hospital. When we got there Dad said that Mum had internal bleeding in her head and that it had been putting pressure on her brain. They had taken her in straight away to operate. So we waited in this little room for the doctors to come out and tell us how it went. Eventually a doctor came in and asked Dad to follow him." Tim stopped talking then, unable to go on, tears streaming down his cheeks. I turned to face him, took both of his hands in mine, kissing them lightly before squeezing them tight, waiting for him to be ready to speak again.

Eventually his tears slowed somewhat and he was able to continue with his story. "Ben and me waited in that room for hours. Or it felt like hours at least. Finally Dad came back. I could see that he'd been crying and straight away me and Ben knew what had happened. Dad pulled us both in to his arms and we all sat on the floor of that little room, holding each other and crying for ages and ages. Eventually Dad said that he was going to see the body. He let Ben go in and see Mum's body but told me that he didn't want me to see her because he didn't want me to remember her like that. Ben didn't stay in the room for very long. When he came out Dad went in. I made him promise to tell Mum that I loved her and say goodbye for me. Dad stayed in that room for a long time. Ben and me just sat in that little room waiting for him, not talking, not crying, just sitting there.

"Eventually Dad came back and we drove home. Dad called my uncle and explained everything to him. They offered to keep Jacob and Bec there over night and Dad went over there the next morning and explained everything to them. Jacob was really upset about it, but Bec didn't understand heaps. She was not even 6 yet. It wasn't till a week or two later that she began to understand what it all meant.

"We had the funeral here a week later. We buried her where all the rest of her family had been buried, right next to her baby sister, who had died when she was 10. We stayed in this house for a few months but after a while Dad couldn't stand it any longer. This house was where he picked up Mum for their first date when they were 16, and where he picked her up for all their dates after that. This is where they hung out every afternoon after school, where they spent every Christmas, Easter, holidays and most weekends when they were living in Bristol for uni. They got married in the gardens here. This is the house that they moved in to right after they got back from their honeymoon. This is the house that they brought Ben, me, Jacob and Rebecca home to after we were born. This is where they watched us grow up. It just had too many memories for him. He decided to move to London with us, saying that there we would be able to away from all the memories. We didn't though. They stayed with us. We didn't live in the house, but we still remembered and thought about her all the time. Dad got really depressed for a while. It wasn't until last year, when Jacob was in a pretty serious car accident that dad realised what he was missing. He neglected us for 5 years. Me and Ben were old enough to look after ourselves. Jacob managed to look after himself pretty well, but Bec was only little. She needed her dad, but he was never there for her. Their next-door neighbour used to take Bec to school everyday, and pick her up. Then Bec would go back to her place in the afternoon. She used to cook dinner for her and Jacob and then bring some over for dad because she knew that he wouldn't cook for any of them.

"Then Jacob had the accident and dad realised how fragile everything is. He got his act together and started treating the others right. They have a pretty good set up now. When I finished college I decided to go to uni here. I never liked London much. This would always be home to me. So I decided to move back here and Ben joined me. We still go and visit Dad every month or so. Dad has never come to visit us here though. Jacob spent last summer with us and is planning on moving back here next year when he finishes college. I doubt that Dad will ever come back though.

"I still come here quite often. I spend a weekend here every month or so. Dad knew that Mum always wanted the house to stay in our family so when Ben turned 18 Dad organised for the house to be moved in to his name. Ben said he didn't want it. He wasn't too attached to this place anyway. He always preferred living in the city. So last year he told me that I could have it and it got transferred in to my name. " He looked at me as he finished his story, his eyes red and puffy, his cheeks still damp from the tears.

Tim leant in to me and I wrapped my arms around him, holding him tight and rubbing his back. I felt him begin to cry again and I just held him until he stopped. This was clearly something he needed to do and I didn't want to rush him. After a while I heard him whisper my name. "Katie?"

"Yeah?" I whispered back.

"There's something I need to do, and I was just… I was wondering if you would, um… If you would help me?"

"Of course," I said, "Anything." Tim pulled out of the hug and looked at me.

"Well even though I come here a lot, I've never… I've never visited her. I haven't seen her grave since the day of her funeral… Do you think… I mean… Will you come with me? To her grave?"

"Of course," I told him.

Tim stood up and took my hand. He led me back through the entrance hall, through the kitchen and out the back door, our lunch completely forgotten. We crossed the back porch and started across the grassy fields. After walking for about two minutes I spotted a small cottage off the to the side, near what looked from here like an orchard. "Is that where your grandparents lived?" I asked him. He nodded. A slight smile crossed his face when he saw it.

"I haven't seen that house for five years." He told me.

We continued to walk, walking across a small wooden bridge that crossed a river. "My great, great grandfather hand carved and built this bridge by himself, when he lived in the house." Tim told me as we walked across it. A few minutes later we came to the place where his ancestors were buried. There was a huge tree in the middle, graves all around it. The area was sectioned off by an iron fence that rose to about waist height. Tim opened the gate and allowed me to step through. Tim walked over to the closest grave. I followed him.

Here lies

_Rebecca Mary Matthews _

_1962-2004_

_Loving mother, wife, daughter, sister._

_Gone but not forgotten._

I looked up at Tim. He looked like he trying not to cry. He sank to his knees, looking at the grave. I stepped away, giving him some space. I walked over to the other graves. There were probably about twenty altogether. Tim's grandparents, aunties and uncles. I walked among them, reading the names and dates, trying to figure out who most of them were, how they were related to Tim.

After quite a long time, I felt Tim come and stand beside me. Neither of us said anything for a while, we just stood, holding hands, looking at the grave before us.

_Vincent Peter Finley_

_1940-2000_

_Resting in the arms of God_

"This is my Grandfather." Tim told me. His voice was quiet, clearly drained from his emotional day.

"Will you show me the others?" I asked him. He led me to one of the furthest graves. _George Albert 1873 – 1939 _

"This was my great, great, great Grandfather. He was the one that built this house. And this one here…" Tim said, moving on to the one next to it, "Was his wife, my great, great, great grandmother."

Tim led me through all of the graves, explaining who each one was, telling me the stories of his ancestors that had been passed down through the generations. It was clear that his family meant a lot to him. He stopped when he got to a small plaque. There was no grave, just a small plaque. _Theresa – 1996_ was all it read. I looked up at him curiously. "After Jacob was born, but before Rebecca was born, my mother was pregnant with another child. She miscarried at 5 months. She was going to be name Theresa, after my Grandmother, so they had this plaque made. I didn't really know much about it for a long time. I was only seven at the time so I didn't really understand. It wasn't until a few years ago that I actually asked my Dad about it. He explained it to me and said that just because she wasn't actually born, didn't mean she shouldn't be remembered. So that's why they made this."

After we had looked at all the graves, Tim led me back toward the house. We stopped quickly at the cottage and he showed me the house where his grandparents had lived, the house he went to every afternoon after school. When we got back to the house, he led me around the side and stopped at a huge tree. In the trunk of the tree were some carvings, I took a step closer to see what it said.

_David Benjamin _

_Rebecca Mary_

_Benjamin Daniel_

_Timothy Peter_

_Jacob David_

_Rebecca May_

I recognised all of the names except for the first one from various members of Tim's family, whose graves I had seen. "Your family?" I asked him.

"Yep. When I was 14 my Mum decided that we should carve our names out here. She said her parents and brother and sister had done the same things to a different tree when they were younger. So we all carved our names out here."

"Timothy Peter, hey?" I said, realising I didn't actually know what his middle name is.

"Yep. After my Grandfather. All of our middle names are after one of our grandparents. And Ben and Rebecca were both named for my parents." I smiled, realising again just how much family meant to Tim. My family didn't do anything like that. No one in my family was named after anyone, and I didn't know a single thing about anyone older than my Grandparents. I had no idea what my family history was at all.

It was quite late in the afternoon by this stage, and Tim made us some dinner and we ate it on the back porch, looking out to the orchard, river and fields. "Would you like to stay here for the weekend?" Tim asked me.

"I didn't bring any clothes." I told him.

"I have some clothes I keep here, you can just borrow some if you like. I know they'll be too big, but it's not like anyone else is here to see you." I smiled at him.

"Yeah, I'd love to stay."

We went inside and cleaned the place up a bit, sweeping the floor and pulling the dustsheets off the furniture. Tim gave me a tour of the house. It was massive. He showed me the room that was his when he was a kid. He said he usually still stayed in there, but tonight we would stay in the guest room, to save us having to share a single bed. He showed me the room that had once belonged to his Mum and Dad. There was a big portrait of his family on the wall above the bed. It looked like it was taken when Tim was about ten. I looked around the room, looking at the photos of Tim's family. I don't know why they weren't taken when they moved. They all had Tim's Mum in them, so I guessed it was because of the memories. She looked a lot like Tim. Or rather, Tim looked a lot like her. They had the same eyes, the same mouth, the same colour hair. I saw that the wardrobe was still full of Tim's Mum's clothes. Her jewelry and make up was still set out on the dresser. Tim led me through the rest of the house, explaining the pictures that were on the walls, telling me what the rooms had been used for in the past. Most of the rooms were still full of furniture, toys, or whatever else had been in there for the past 116 years.

Tim showed me in to the guest bedroom and I sat down on the bed. Tim sat next to me and I rested my head on his shoulder. He put his arm around me and rubbed my arm. "I love you, Katie." I heard him say quietly. I looked up at him. "I don't expect you to say it back, I know we have only known each other for a month, but I just wanted you to know, because I do. I really do-" I cut him off my kissing him hard on the mouth.

"I love you, too." I told him when we pulled away. He smiled and kissed me again, pushing me back on the bed as he did so. He climbed on top of me and we made love for hours, repeating those words over and over.

We spent the rest of the weekend in much the same way. I learnt more about his family and his past, I told him what I knew about my family and about most of my life. I didn't tell him I couldn't have kids. I wasn't ready for that yet. We arrived back home late on Sunday night. I said goodbye to Tim in the car, and walked up the front steps, thinking about how amazing my weekend had been, how much closer to Tim I felt, and how much I was falling in love with him. I opened the front door and my pleasant thoughts were interrupted by a pair of strong arms wrapping around me, before shoving me away.

"Where the FUCK have you been?"

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	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry it has been a few day since I have updated had a busy weekend.**

**I know everyone, including me, hates Tim so I have cut out a bit so that we can get rid of him sooner. I can't just ditch him though, he is in it for a reason.**

**This one's only a short one, I'll be working on the next chapter tonight so it will be up either later tonight or tomorrow.**

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**Chapter 12**

**Cook:**

What a dickhead! So I watched Katie getting changed. Yeah, maybe it wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done, but I only saw her tits for like half a second. There was no need for Tim to crack the shits like he did. And yeah, maybe I shouldn't have complimented Katie on her tits, but they really were fucking mint and I was just kidding around. So Tim gives me this look that's enough to make even me feel a bit on edge, and then when he is leaving the room, he wraps his arm around Katie and gives me the finger on the way out. I mean talk about an over-reaction.

I heard Katie and Tim shut the front door behind them and I went to downstairs and peeked out the front window, just to make sure that Tim had calmed down after he left the room and wasn't going to do anything stupid. Not that I was really concerned about him, but I did care about Katie. They were sitting in his car; they looked like they were talking. I saw Tim smile at Katie and they drove out down the street.

So now I was up at 8am, home by myself with nothing to do. This is not how I had planned on spending my day. I took a shower and made some breakfast, went for a walk, cleaned the house up a bit – I'm getting lame and boring, I know – and by 10am I was out of things to do. I decided I'd go over to Freddie's. I didn't bother calling him; I knew he would be in his shed. He was always there, normally with Effy. I opened the shed door, and sure enough, Freddie was lounging across the sofa and Effy was sitting in the armchair, smoking a spliff each. I walked in and sat down on the floor in front of the sofa, none of us saying a word. Freddie took the spliff from between his lips and passed it do me. I took a drag, welcoming the smoke as it flowed through my lungs. I passed the spliff back to Freddie and the three of us sat in silence for a few minutes longer.

"What's on your mind, Cook?" Effy eventually asked, breaking the comfortable silence. I shrugged, saying nothing.

"Where's Katie?"

"Dunno." I answered, shrugging again and shaking my head slightly. Effy raised an eyebrow at me. "Tim came over this morning. They stayed downstairs for a few minutes and then Katie came up to the room and started getting changed, thinking I was asleep. I wasn't, she turned around and saw me looking and freaked out for a second. Tim came up and asked what was going on, and when he found out that I saw Katie half naked, he cracked the shits. Seriously looked like he was going to kill me. Katie managed to convince him it didn't matter and they left, but not before Tim flipped me the bird behind Katie's back." Effy and Freddie both looked a bit shocked.

"That doesn't sound like Tim." Freddie said, "He's always been so calm and sensible whenever I've seen him… It's almost annoying sometimes…"

"I know. I always got along with him really well, but I definitely did not like the look on his face this morning."

"Weird." Freddie said, "Well I'm going to get us some snacks from the house" Freddie jumped up from where he was sitting and left the shed.

Effy and I sat in silence for a moment. I looked at my hands that were resting in my lap, but I could sense that Effy was watching me closely. "Just say whatever you're thinking Eff." I said eventually, thinking the sooner she said it the better. Effy smiled that smile that she does.

"You like her don't you?" she asked. My head shot up to look at her. That was about the last thing I was expecting her to say.

"What? No, I don't like her. Not like that." Effy raised her eyebrow at me. "Really, we are just friends. Nothing more." I told her. We silence for a moment longer as the realisation sunk in. I liked her. I hadn't even realised. Somewhere among the late night chats, the games of cards, the movies, the drinks, the dinners… at some stage I had begun to like Katie. That's fucked, I thought. I was just in love with Effy, I finally get over her and suddenly I like one of my other best friends. Not just one of my friends, but my roommate, who is currently going out with what seems to be the biggest tool on the planet.

"You should tell her." Effy said.

"There's nothing to tell." I told her.

"Fine. Deny it if you want, me and you both know the truth." God, I hated how she did that. How she knew everything, even when you did your best to hide it.

"She's with Tim, it's not my place to step in and mess that up." I told Effy.

"Yeah, Tim. The nicest guy that ever lived, apparently. Almost seems too good to be true, hey?"

I thought about that for a moment. It was true. He did seem a bit too great sometimes. Kind of like he was trying too hard. No one is that selfless.

"She doesn't even like me." I told Effy. "Going for it with Katie will only mess things up even more."

"Maybe. Or it might end up working out better than you could even imagine." I thought about that for a while. Yes, I liked Katie. Yes, the thought of maybe being with her someday brought a smile to my face. But she was happy with Tim and I wasn't going to ruin that for her. I knew that she really liked him. Maybe even loved him.

"No. I can't mess up her relationship with Tim just because I have some stupid crush on her." I told Effy.

"I didn't say you should mess up her relationship with Tim, I just said that you and her could turn out better than you might think. You should at least message her, make sure she's okay. I don't like how angry Tim got this morning." I agreed and pulled out my phone.

"What do I say?" I asked Effy, no idea where to even start.

"Whatever you want. Maybe apologise for this morning. Make sure she everything is okay. Whatever you want." I thought for a moment, and wrote a text, deleted it, wrote another one, deleted that and then finally settled on something.

**Hey Katiekins, sorry bout this morning, didnt mean 2 cause any trouble. Hope everything is ok. Catch ya later tonight? Cook **

I re-read it, checked it with Effy and sent it. That should be okay, I thought. Just apologising and making sure everything is okay.

Effy and me returned to our silence. After a minute I spoke up. "Katie told me last night that she couldn't have kids." I said, knowing that Effy would already know. She looked at me, slightly shocked.

"She told you that?" Effy asked.

"Yep. We were just talking and she told me. And then cried for ages. And then we went to sleep." Effy just stared at me, a look on her face that I couldn't quite figure out.

"What?" I asked her.

"Nothing." Effy said, "Katie just doesn't like talking about that. She hasn't told very many people. And the people that do know, she hasn't gone in to very much detail with. It takes a lot for Katie to break down and actually cry about something. That fact that she did so with you means that you are obviously very important to her and that she trusts you." I smiled at that. "Just make sure you don't let her down, Cook. She needs you to be there for her." I could do that, I though. I don't need to be with her, I'm happy just being friends with her, looking out for her.

Freddie came back in to the shed with a packet of crisps and some can of soft drink. "Sorry that took so long, Karen was giving me a hard time." He said. He sat back down on the sofa and we drank our drinks and ate our crisps. We spent most of the day hanging out in the shed. JJ came and joined us for the afternoon and we stayed there all evening.

I went home about 9. I hadn't got a text back from Katie, but I wasn't too concerned. I figured she was just busy out with Tim. I did a load of washing and watched a movie. I went to bed pretty early. It was pretty boring when it was just me here. When I woke up in the morning Katie still wasn't home. I still wasn't too concerned. She stayed at Tim's place quite often. Normally she would message me to say that she would be staying there, but given the terms that we parted on yesterday, it didn't surprise me that she hadn't let me know. I spent most of Saturday just hanging out at home by myself. I messaged Katie in the afternoon, asking whether she would be home for dinner and whether I should cook enough for her. I didn't get a reply. So I cooked dinner for myself, and ate it at the kitchen table by myself. Then I took a walk by myself, went and played with my soccer ball across the street by myself, watched a movie by myself and went to bed by myself.

Katie didn't come home that night either. I tried calling her in the morning but she didn't answer. I decided to call Effy to see if she had heard from her but she hadn't. Effy came over with Freddie at lunchtime. She said it was to keep me company but I knew that she was worried about Katie. It wasn't like Katie to disappear and not contact anyone. She had been gone since Friday morning and it was now Sunday afternoon. No one had heard anything from her since she and Tim had left. Effy tried calling Tim but didn't get an answer. Freddie called Tim's housemate, Cameron, who he had become quite good friends with. Cameron said he hadn't seen Tim since Thursday night and he hadn't heard from either of them for a few days and had no idea where they might be. Effy found Emily and Naomi's address book and sent a message to Katie's little brother, James, to see if he had heard from her but he said that he hadn't.

We were starting to get pretty worried by this stage. I was the last person to talk to her and that was almost 3 days ago, when she had left with her over-protective boyfriend who looked like he was ready to kill someone. The hours dragged past, me, Effy and Freddie just sitting in the lounge room, all holding our phones, taking it in turns to call her every now and then, hoping that she would come home or at least contact us sometime soon.

It was late when we heard a car pull up out the front and someone walking up the front steps. I jumped over the back of the sofa and got to the front door just as Katie walked inside, a big smile on her face. I practically jumped on her, wrapping my arms around her in a tight hug, happy to see that she was safe, before pushing her away. "Where the fuck have you been?" I asked her, my hands on her shoulders. She looked at me, shocked.

"I've been away with Tim…" She said.

"You could have let us know. We've been sending you messages and calling you all weekend, you could have replied to one of them."

"Sorry, we were out in the country. I tried to call you but I had no signal."

"Fine, just maybe try a little harder to let us know what's going on, yeah? Last we knew you had gone of with some fucking psycho and then you don't come home for the whole weekend." I walked back in to the lounge room and took my place on the sofa next to Effy. Katie followed me in and stood behind the sofa.

"What? A psycho? Tim's not psycho." She said, sounding slightly offended.

"He was the other day."

"Whatever." Katie said, sounding a bit annoyed at me. "I'm going to bed." She leant forward and kissed Effy on the top of the head and disappeared upstairs.

Freddie, Effy and I sat in silence again, just as we had been doing all day. "What do I do?" I said, turning to Effy.

"Like I said, let her know you are there for her; that you're still her friend. Tim is still her boyfriend at the moment so don't just go around calling him psycho, that will just get her pissed off at you. You might want to apologise for that. Just let her know that you are still there for her and that she can trust you." Effy said. I nodded. "Well, what are you waiting for then?"

"What, you mean right now?" I asked. She nodded.

"Fine." I stood up and walked around the sofa. "Feel free to crash here tonight if you want." I told Effy and Freddie as I left the room.

I walked upstairs and knocked quietly on the bedroom door before slowly opening it and taking a step inside. Katie wasn't in there. I turned around and saw that there was a thin beam of light shining out from under the door of Emily and Naomi's room. My heart sunk a bit when I saw that. I knew that Emily and Naomi had told her that she could stay in there while they were gone, but she had only stayed in there twice, both nights when she had come home late after I was already in bed. I crossed the landing and knocked softly on the door. "Yeah?" I heard Katie's quiet voice. I opened the door and poked my head in.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" I asked. Katie shrugged. I took that as a yes. I took a step inside and closed the door behind me. Katie was lying on Emily's side of the bed, curled up under the blankets, wearing the t-shirt that she had come home in, that I assumed was Tim's. She didn't look at me as I came in and sat on Naomi's side of the bed. "Listen, Katie… I'm sorry for what I said. I shouldn't have said that Tim was a psycho."

"It's okay, Cook, I'm not mad about that." she said.

"What's up then?"

"I don't know… It's just… I had a great weekend with Tim, and I really do love him," I flinched slightly when I heard those words but Katie didn't seem to notice. "But the whole time we were away I just kept thinking about that look on his face when he found out that you saw me changing. He really scared me then." Katie moved closer to me and lifted my arm that was resting by my side, snuggled herself in to my chest and set my arm back down so it was tight around her back, my hand resting lightly on her waist.

"What was he like for the rest of the weekend?" I asked Katie.

"He was perfect. He told me all about his childhood and his family. He listened when I told him about mine. I feel like we are a lot closer than we were. Like we know each other better, you know?"

I nodded, wanting her to know that I understood, but not really knowing what to say.

An easy silence settled between us and we stayed like that, cuddled together for quite a while. Just as I was starting to think that Katie had drifted off to sleep, she spoke up. "I think… I think I need to tell him that I can't have kids." She told me.

"Really?" I asked her, surprised, my eyebrows raised, even though she couldn't see them.

"Yeah. Why? Do you think I shouldn't?"

"No, it's not that, I'm just... surprised."

"Really? Why?"

"Well… I guess just 'cause I know that it's not… you know… easy for you to talk about…"

"Hmm. I know it will be hard, and I have no idea how he will take it, but… I just… I feel like him and me are getting kind of serious and I just want him to know before we get too serious… And I feel like we can't really move forward when I am keeping such a big secret from him. Do you know what I mean? And I guess… well… I'd rather tell him now and him dump me now, before we get too serious, than be really serious and then have to try and get over him." Katie explained to me.

"How do you think he will take it? Do you think he actually will break up with you because of it? Because if he does, he is the world's biggest douche bag." I felt Katie smile in to my chest.

"I don't know… Normally he seems like a good enough guy that it wouldn't bother him. But I learnt this week that family really means a lot to him and I don't know how he would react, finding out that he may never have the family that he hoped for."

I didn't really know what to say to that, so I just stayed quiet. If I was honest, I didn't want Katie and Tim to be together, but I didn't want to see Katie getting hurt either. And Effy was right, at the moment she was still with Tim, so I needed to just be there for her as a friend.

We returned to our easy silence and eventually I heard Katie's breathing become slow and deep as she drifted off to sleep. I wriggled down in the bed so that I was lying down and pulled the blankets so that they were covering me as well. I reached over and switched off the lamp and let myself fall asleep, Katie snuggled in to my chest, my arms wrapped around her.

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	13. Chapter 13

**Here is chapter 13. Sorry for the lack of Naomily at the moment. I'm still trying to figure out what their story line will be, so I'm spending a bit more time on Cook and Katie.**

**To _youcanseeboth_, thanks for pointing out that I wrote soccer. Obviously I meant _football_. Like I've said before, I'm Australian, and I just write the way I speak, so I often overlook some things like that.**

**Cheers for the reviews.**

**Hope you enjoy.**

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**Chapter 13**

**Cook:**

Over the next week it got harder and harder to spend time with Katie. We still shared a room, but we didn't stay up talking or anything like we normally did. It was just too hard. I was starting to really like her. Like _really_ like her. She would want to talk about Tim, or ask for advice, or tell me about what they had done that day and every time she did, it felt like my heart was breaking just that little bit more. It got to the point where every time she mentioned Tim's name, I would just close off and stop listening, just nodding my head and making appropriate "mm"'s and "uh-huh"'s whenever it seemed like she was waiting for me to say something. After a couple of days Katie seemed to realise that I didn't really like talking about Tim, so she just stopped bringing him up. And when she stopped talking about him, there wasn't much else for us to talk about. She spent pretty much everyday and quite a few nights with him while I stayed at home applying for jobs online or handing out pathetic resumes at various shops around the place. I had decided I needed something to do. I was getting sick of just sitting at home all day and I figured I needed to get a job someday, so I might as well get one now. Plus, it wasn't really fair for me to keep bumming off Emily and Naomi.

So me and Katie soon ran out of things to talk about. But even though we weren't talking much, we still spent quite a bit of time together. Cooking and eating dinner together, or watching a movie, or just sharing our mattress, and I frequently found myself staring at her. When we ate dinner I would watch her sitting across the table from me, chewing quietly on her food, putting her knife and fork down occasionally to take a drink, smiling up at me when she caught me looking, in which case I would quickly return my attention to my plate and try to act like I hadn't been staring at her. When we sat in the lounge room watching a movie, I found that I paid more attention to her than whatever was on telly. I watched the way she always curled one leg up underneath her, the way her eyebrows furrowed and she pulled her lower lip in to her mouth when she was trying to figure out what would happen next, the way she automatically cracked her knuckles without even realising when she was scared. I learnt what things would make her laugh, and I found myself smiling whenever she did, not because I found the movie funny, but because her smile never failed to make me smile. I fought the urge to kiss away her tears whenever it got to a sad bit and she cried, settling instead for holding her hand, or allowing her to cuddle in to my side.

Tim never joined us like he had in the weeks before. I didn't see him at all in the week following his and Katie's little weekend trip. When he came to pick her up he would just wait in his car and either call her or text her telling her to come meet him and when he dropped her off. He always said goodbye to her in the car, letting her walk herself to the door. He didn't join us for dinner or movies, and they didn't invite me to go to the pub or a club with them like they used to. Not that I would have gone anyway, I was just confused by the sudden change.

I found myself spending more time than usual with Freddie and Effy, just so that I could get away from Katie. Even though I liked spending time with her more than anything else, it was just too hard to be around her. I was getting jealous of Tim. Or not so much jealous of Tim, but jealous that he had Katie and I didn't. Freddie had cottoned on that I liked (loved?) Katie, so it was easy to spend time with him and Eff. They understood how I felt, and they knew when to talk about it and when to leave it and distract me with something else. It was good to have some friends that I could talk to and spend time with when I needed to get away from everything. I couldn't wait for Naomi and Emily to get home the next week so that I would have some company at home beside Katie.

The days seemed to drag on. It felt like the longest week of my life. I settled in to a routine, which made everyday seem exactly the same as the one before. I would get up in the morning, go for a run most days to help me clear my head and then have some breakfast. While I was eating my breakfast Katie would come downstairs, if she had come home the night before, that is, and I would make us both a cup of coffee while she shuffled around the kitchen making her toast. One piece with strawberry jam, the other with apricot jam. It was the same, every single morning. We would sit in silence as we finished our breakfast and coffee, before one of us would go and take a shower, then the other. Katie would then normally get a message from Tim saying that he was waiting for her out the front, or she would go over and see Effy. I would apply for a few more jobs and then go over to Freddie's to hang out with him, and Effy, if she wasn't out with Katie. Then I would come home and make dinner. Often just for myself, but if Katie was home she would help me. We would eat in silence, me watching her as much as I could. I would do the dishes and if Katie was home she would do the laundry. Then, if Katie was home, we would watch a movie or some T.V show and then go to bed. If she wasn't home, I would normally sit outside by myself, smoking cigarette after cigarette before going to bed early, only to lie awake for hours, thinking about Katie, hating Tim, wondering how Emily and Naomi were going, and thinking about how tomorrow was going to be exactly the same as today. Just as boring, just as depressing, just as tedious as all the days before.

It was five days before Naomi and Emily were due to return to Bristol and I was starting to get excited. I started my morning the same as every other, getting up, running and then having breakfast. However, this morning, as I was making her coffee, Katie broke our usual silence. "Tim's coming over for dinner tonight. Is that okay?" I looked around at her surprised. Tim hadn't so much as stepped on to our front curb for the past week, and now he was going to spend an evening in our house? Something wasn't quite right with that.

"Yeah, that's fine, I'll just stay at Freddie's or something so you can have the place to yourself." I told her, assuming she was telling me so that I knew I was supposed to be out of the house.

"Oh, no, I meant that Tim will be joining me and you for dinner. You don't need to go out." She told me.

I raised and eyebrow at her. "I'm not so sure Tim would like spending the evening with me."

"Of course he would. I invited him to have dinner with us and he said yes. I want you guys to start hanging out together again. I hate having to try and split my time between you."

I didn't say anything to that. I didn't know what there was to stay. "What are we doing for dinner then?" I asked her.

"I thought we could make a roast." Katie told me.

"We don't have the stuff to make that." I told her. We hadn't been shopping in a few days and the pantry and fridge were getting ridiculously empty.

"I know, I'll go to the shops later." Katie told me.

"I'll go. I'll be coming past the shops on my way home from Freddie's anyway. Just make me a list of what you need and I'll get it for you."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Katie found some paper and a pen and jotted down a list of what she needed form the shops. "Tim's coming at 6, so make sure you're home by 4 so that it can be cooked on time, yeah?"

"No worries, Katiekins. See you later." I said, folding the list and putting it in my pocket. I headed out the front door and made my way to Freddie's.

I got home just before 4, just as Katie had said. I just finished unpacking the groceries that I had bought when my phone starting ringing, letting me know I had received a text. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and read the message.

**Hey cook, im at Effys. Running a bit late. Be home soon. U can start cooking dinner if u want but don't feel like u have to. K xo**

I decided I might as well start with cooking the dinner since I had nothing else to do. I peeled some potatoes and put the meat and potatoes in the oven. I set about preparing the rest of the dinner, washing and chopping up the vegetables and doing everything else that I needed to do. I was quite impressed with my skills. Katie had been teaching me how to cook over the last few weeks and personally, I thought I was getting pretty good.

I was sitting in the lounge room, flicking through some magazine that I found on the coffee table, when I heard Katie come in. She called hello to me and went in to the kitchen, before coming back in to the lounge room. "Uhh, Cook?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really sorry, but there's been a change of plans. I'm going to go to Tim's place for dinner instead…" Katie told me.

"Oh. Right. Okay." I said, returning to the magazine, attempting to hide my disappointment.

"I'm really sorry." Katie told me. I could tell that she felt bad.

"Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter."

"It does matter. You've gone to all that trouble to go shopping and make dinner for us all and now it's going to be wasted."

"Seriously Katie, it's not a big deal." I said, getting up off the couch and walking past Katie. I grabbed my fags off the kitchen table and went out in to the back garden, sitting on one of the outdoor chairs and lighting my cigarette. Katie followed me out.

"You should come to dinner with us. Tim probably wouldn't mind. I'll just call him and check." Katie said, pulling her phone out of her back pocket and beginning to dial his number.

"No, Katie, don't. I'm fine to stay here. Really."

Katie looked at me, guilt written all over her face. "Are you sure? I feel really bad."

"Yeah, I'm sure. You and Tim have a good night." I said stubbing out my half finished cigarette and pushing past Katie and going upstairs. This time she didn't follow me, thank fuck. I really needed to get away from her. It was ridiculous how disappointed I was. I mean, it was just dinner. And it wasn't even going to be just the two of us, Tim was meant to be there as well, which was bound to be awkward.

I stayed in our room for an hour or so, sitting by the open window, smoking cigarette after cigarette. I knew Katie wouldn't be too impressed that our room smelt like cigarettes, but I didn't care enough to go outside. Eventually Katie came in and broke me from my miserable solitude. She took a look at the fag in my hand and the full ashtray beside me but said nothing about it. "I'm going to Tim's now. Are you sure you don't want to come?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Thanks anyway." I told her, trying to sound fine.

"Okay, well I've checked the roast, it should be ready in about half an hour. If you want, you can put the leftovers in the fridge and we can have them for dinner tomorrow night? Just you and me. I promise." Katie told me. I could tell she still felt really bad for bailing on me tonight.

"Yeah, that sounds good." I told her, "I'll see you later. Or tomorrow or whenever."

"Yeah. I'm not sure what my plans are for later, but I'll let you know either way." Katie said, as she left the room, closing the door behind her. I heard the front door close and I poked my head out the open window and watched as Katie walk down the hill in front of our house.

I finished cooking the dinner and ate some – pretty fucking impressive if you ask me – and packed the rest away for the next night. After my lonely dinner and cleaning up the kitchen, I went in to the lounge room and sat on the couch, turned on the TV and DVD player, and saw that _Friends_ was already in there. Katie loved that show and had all the seasons on DVD. When she found out that I had never seen it before, she insisted that I watch some with her. So we had started watching from the start of the series and had so far made our way through the first two seasons. It was pretty funny. So I settled back and watched an episode of _Friends_.

I was just about to put on a second episode when I heard the front door open and slam shut and saw Katie sprint up the stairs. I jumped up off the couch and ran up the stairs to see what was going on. Our bedroom door was shut so I assumed she was in there. I took a few steps forward and knocked quietly on the door. "Katie?" I called through it. "Are you okay?" I did get an answer so I pushed the door open slowly and poked my head in. "Katie?"

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**Katie:**

I felt _so_ fucking bad about bailing on our dinner with Cook, especially after he had gone to the trouble of buying all the stuff for it and then starting to cook it for me. I knew he was upset about it but was trying not to show it. I considered calling Tim and cancelling on him so that I could spend the evening with Cook, but things had been a bit awkward with Cook lately. It was like we suddenly didn't know how to act around each other anymore. Plus, I had been planning on telling Tim about me not being able to have kids. And I had worked myself up to it and figured out what I was going to say, and I didn't want to back out, now that I had finally got the guts to do it.

So I set off down the road to Tim's place, pretending I didn't see Cook looking out the window as I walked down the street. When I got to Tim's place I knocked on the door and he greeted me with a light kiss and welcomed me inside. He had cooked a fancy dinner – rack of lamb with red wine sauce – and had set the table with candles and fancy plates and cutlery. He really was the dream guy. I couldn't believe how much I loved him, after only knowing him for just over a month. I was quite excited for our romantic dinner, when Tim told me that Nick would also be joining us. I was a bit disappointed that I wouldn't get to have a romantic evening with Tim like I had hoped, but it was fair enough. If we had it at my house Cook would have been joining us, so I couldn't really expect it to be any different for Tim's housemates.

We ate the delicious dinner, the conversation flowing easily between the three of us. I had gotten to know Nick quite well over the past few weeks and I liked that I was getting on so well with Tim's friends. After dinner we cleared the table and Tim and me went and sat on the sofa with a glass of wine each, and Nick retreated to his bedroom. Tim and I talked for a while about nothing in particular until I decided this was a good time to tell him what I had to. Well, maybe not a good time – is there ever a good time to tell your boyfriend that you can't have kids and risk getting your heart broken? But this moment seemed as good as any. "Tim, there's something I want to tell you, and I don't know what you're going to think about it, but I really want you to know the truth. This relationship isn't going to work if we are keeping secrets from each other, so I just… I just need to say this…" I said in one breath, suddenly extremely nervous. The words I had gone over in my head so many times suddenly disappeared and I had no idea how to tell him. I didn't want to just blurt it out and shock him, but then he would probably be shocked anyway.

Tim must have been able to tell that I was nervous, because he took both of my hands in his and held them tight, rubbing his thumbs over the back of my hands lightly. "What is it? You can tell me anything." He told me.

I looked at him and saw a genuinely caring look in his eye. 'Maybe he won't care,' I thought to myself. 'I know he loves me. Maybe it won't even bother him.'

I glanced back down to my lap, unable to look at him as I said the words. "I can't have children." I told him, my voice coming out surprisingly confident, yet inside I was shaking with fear. When he didn't say anything I looked up at him. He was still holding my hands but had stopped rubbing them. His face was expressionless.

"What?" he asked.

"I… I can't have kids… I'm going through a premature menopause, which means that I will never be able to conceive." I explained to him.

Tim released my hands and stood to his feet, turning his back on me and taking a few steps away. He ran his hands through his short hair and I heard him take a deep breath and exhale slowly.

"Babe?" I said, needing to know what was going through his head.

"Why didn't you tell me this before now?" He asked me, still not looking at me.

"Well… I just… I wasn't really ready to tell you before now. It's hard for me to talk about and I needed to know that I could trust you before I told you."

"So you waited until I had fallen madly in love with you to just rip out my heart?" He sounded annoyed as he turned back to face me.

"I didn't mean to hurt you." I told him, "I just need you to know the truth."

"Well you should have told me straight away, so that we didn't waste our time."

Tears started to roll down my cheeks. He was definitely not taking this like I had hoped he would. "We haven't been wasting our time, Tim. I love you." I told him. "This doesn't have to change things."

"YES IT DOES!" Tim shouted loudly at me. I jumped at his sudden out burst. "It does change things. Here I was thinking we had a future, and now I find out that you have just been fucking me around!"

"I haven't been fucking you around, Tim. I do love you; I want to spend more time with you. Just because I can't have kids, doesn't mean I have been fucking you around." I told him, starting to get annoyed now, myself.

"Yes you have been! Here you are, telling me that you love me, listening to me tell you all about my family and my Mum, when you know that you and me don't have a future. This didn't mean anything to you, did it? It was all just a bit of fun to you wasn't it?" He shouted.

"No, Tim, it wasn't. I did see us having a future. I still want us to have a future."

"And how are we supposed to have a future?" Tim shouted at me, "How are we supposed to have a future when you know that the single most important thing to me is family and here you are, telling me that you and me can never have that because you have a fucked up body."

I stood to my feet, angry, about to shout back to him when he suddenly slammed his fist in to the wall, smashing a hole in it. I jumped back, scared of him. I saw Nick out of the corner of my eye, standing in the doorway, coming to see what the problem was. I ignored him.

"Tim, calm down. We can talk about this." I told him.

"There's nothing to talk about! You can't have kids and I don't want you!" Tim said, storming away from me, pushing Nick out of the way and slamming his bedroom door behind him.

As soon as I heard the door, I collapsed back on to the sofa and burst in to tears. Nick rushed over to me and wrapped his arms around me, letting me sob in to his shirt. Nick rubbed my back and let me cry for a few minutes before I stood up and walked to the door. I had to get out of there. All my worst fears about telling Tim had come true. All my darkest thoughts about not being good enough for any guy were confirmed in my mind. I couldn't stay there any longer. I walked to the front door and Nick followed me. As I was walking out I heard Nick speak. "Just give him some time, Katie. He'll come around. I know he really loves you. After his Mum died he has always dreamed that one day he will have the perfect family – the family that he didn't have growing up. This shocked him, that's all. Just give him a few days and he'll start to understand."

I looked back at him and shook my head. "All those things that he said… it's obviously what he really thinks. And I can't be with someone who thinks my body is fucked. I just can't do it. I'll see you around, Nick." I walked down the steps and on to the street. As I walked the tears started flowing again. I walked quickly, eager to get home and be alone.

I finally reached my street and I ran to the house, up the front steps, through the doorway, slamming it shut behind me and up the stairs. I ran to in to mine and Cook's room and swung the door closed as I went past, collapsing on the mattress. I held my pillow tight as I sobbed my heart out. I faintly heard Cook call out something through the door, but I didn't hear what it was so I didn't answer. I heard the door and open and Cook said my name. "Katie?"

I didn't say anything. I didn't have anything to say. So I just kept on crying. I felt Cook kneel down on the mattress beside me and place his hand on my back and rub it softly. "Katie, what's wrong? What happened?"

I felt him tug gently on my hand that was under my pillow but I didn't move it. He pulled harder and I finally allowed him to squeeze it tight, just as I had done to Emily all those months ago. He placed a lingering kiss on the back of my hand and gently brushed the hair out of my face and wiped away my tears. "Katie, sit up." He told me. I didn't move. "Katie, could you sit up please?"

I lifted myself in to a sitting position, cross-legged, facing him, but staring down in to my lap. Cook placed his hand under my chin and pulled my face up so that I was looking him in the eye. "What happened?" Cook asked me, clearly very concerned. I didn't answer and Cook let go of my hand and placed on palm on either side of my face, cupping my cheeks gently, brushing away the tears with his thumbs. He raised his eyebrows at me, asking me again, without words, what had happened.

"I… I decided to… I told Tim that I… That I couldn't…" I said between sobs. I couldn't bring myself to actually say the words. I felt ashamed. To me, the way Tim had acted proved to me that I was worthless. Cook understood what I was getting at and he wrapped his arms around my and held me tight to his chest.

We sat like that for a long time, me bawling my eyes out, falling apart, Cook holding me so tight that it felt like he was trying to hold me together. Eventually the tears ran out and Cook asked me what had happened after I told Tim. I explained the way Tim had freaked out, saying that we had no future, telling me that I fucked him around. When I got to the part about Tim saying my body was fucked, Cook grabbed my shoulders and pushed me away from him so that he was looking me in the eye. "Listen to me, Katie. There is nothing wrong with you. Tim's an idiot. A complete fuckhead. He has no idea what he is talking about. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You are absolutely, completely, utterly, downright, 100% perfect." Cook said it in such a convincing manner I almost believed him. Almost. Part of me knew he was just saying to make me feel better. I wasn't perfect. Not even close, but there was something in the way that Cook said it that made me feel better. Made me feel comforted. Made me feel loved.

I don't know what possessed me to do it, but at the moment, I leant forward and captured Cook's lips with my own, and a soft yet passionate kiss. I felt him kiss me back and I slipped my tongue in to his mouth, brushing it against his. I reached up and placed my hand on his neck, pulling him closer to me. Suddenly though, I felt him resist. He pulled back and released my lips. I leant closer to him, trying to capture his lips once again and he pecked me lightly before pulling away again.

"I'm sorry, Katie. We just… It's not right." Cook told me sadly.

"Why not?" I asked him. I didn't know why I was so eager. I guess I just needed comforting, and Cook was definitely comforting.

"It just wouldn't be right. You're upset. I would feel like I was taking advantage. I'm sorry."

I just nodded. I knew he was right. And I didn't want to screw up our friendship for meaningless shag just because I was upset.

Cook rose to his feet and held out his hands to help me up. I was still quite upset and was feeling exhausted and weak from crying so much. Cook slipped the cardigan that I was wearing off my shoulders and dropped it to the ground. He lifted my arms and pulled my shirt over my head. He undid my jeans and slipped them down my legs, being perfectly gentlemanly the whole time; his hands never lingering in one place, his eyes never straying. He moved behind me, undid my bra and slipped the straps over my shoulders and down my arms, dropping it to the floor. I just stood there, wearing only my knickers, too tired and numb to even think about the fact that Cook was undressing me. Cook moved to the wardrobe and found a pair of long, flannelette pyjamas that I only ever wore when I was sick. He pulled one sleeve over my arm, passed the shirt around my back and put my other arm through the other sleeve. He gently did up the buttons down the front and bent down, lifted one of my feet and guided it in to my pants, doing the same things with the other foot. He pulled them up and tied the string around my hips so that they stayed up. He gently pulled the hair clips out of my hair and gently brushed it. He then stripped off his own jeans and shirt, pulled on some track pants and a clean t-shirt and guided me back to the mattress, sitting me down. I lied back on the pillows and Cook tucked the blankets around me, before turning off the light and lying down next to me, pulling the blankets up and wrapping his arm around me, pulling me toward him. I snuggled in to his chest, breathing in the scent that is Cook. He smelled like a mixture of laundry detergent, aftershave, cigarettes and a smell that I couldn't quite name. It was just distinctly Cook. He held me close as the tears started to flow once again. I don't know how long we stayed like that, but it felt like ages. I don't actually remember falling asleep, though I guess I must have at some stage.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry it has been a few days since my last update... I've been lazy, reading everyone else's fics instead of writing my own. Thank you to all those writers out there who are making my holidays much more entertaining.**

**Again, sorry for all the Cook/Katie stuff and no Emily/Naomi stuff. The second half of this chapter is Emily's POV, so there is a reward for those of you who can be fucked reading Cook's part ;)**

**Review if you get a chance, I do like them :)**

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**Chapter 14**

**Cook:**

The next few days were strange. Katie wasn't herself. It was pretty obvious that Tim had really hurt her. Like completely broken her heart. She spent all day, everyday in bed. I would bring her meals and sit with her and hold her when she cried. She never talked about it. She hardly spoke at all. She just existed. She was broken, falling apart, and no matter how hard I tried, and how much I wanted to, I had no idea how to fix her.

Effy came over everyday. Often she would stay the night and then spend all of the following day here too. They would spend hours just in the bedroom. I asked Effy what they talked about, but she wouldn't tell me much, saying that it wasn't her place to say. After a few days, and a lot of pestering on my part, Effy finally gave in and told me a bit. She explained that when Tim reacted the way he did, all the horrible thoughts that Katie thought about herself had been confirmed. It wasn't just something bad that she thought about herself anymore. Tim thought it as well, so therefore it must be true.

All I wanted was to be able to hold Katie tight, and tell her that none of the stuff that Tim said was true, and that there was nothing wrong with her and that I loved her. And I wanted her to believe me. But no matter how much I tried to convince her of that, she just wouldn't listen.

Katie seemed to have forgotten about our kiss. It was understandable. It's not like it meant anything to her anyway. She was just upset and needed some comfort. I was trying to force myself not to think about it, but every time I saw her all I could think about was her soft lips moving in time with mine, the taste of her tongue against mine, the feel of her thin, yet strong fingers on my neck. Every time I saw her I was filled with an urge to kiss her again and again. I wanted to hold her tight against me, and kiss and her tell that I love her, but somewhere inside me I knew that it wasn't right. She was still upset about Tim and I wanted to fix her, not add to her problems and make her more confused. So instead of holding her in a romantic way, I cuddled and comforted her when she cried. Instead of kissing her on the lips, I kissed her head, her cheeks, her forehead or her hands. Instead of telling her that I was in love with her, I just told her that I love her, letting her know that I would always be there for her, that I wanted to help her, and that I would do anything to see her happy again.

It was the day before Naomi and Emily were due to come home and Katie hadn't come downstairs in four days, since the night she told Tim. She only left the room to go to the toilet a couple of times a day and when Effy practically forced her to take her daily bath. It was about lunchtime and Katie, Effy and me were sitting on the mattress in our room eating some soup that Effy had cooked. Effy and I were talking, keeping the conversation light, trying to distract Katie and cheer her up. She still wasn't talking, but she would occasionally smile.

As we were eating, there was a knock on the front door. Effy and me looked at each other confused, wondering who it could be. All of our friends knew that they were allowed to just let themselves in, so did Gina and Kieran, who came around every now and then, just to see how things were or bring us something that Gina had cooked for us. Effy stood up and left the room to get the door. Katie and me stopped eating and sat in silence, both trying to hear who was at the door. I could hear voices, but they weren't loud enough to hear what they were saying or who it was. Suddenly I heard a bang and then a smash. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!" Shouted a voice that I recognised instantly. I jumped to my feet and sprinted out of the room, meeting Tim half way down the stairs. He tried to push past me, but I had the advantage of being a few steps higher. I pushed him backwards, forcing him back down the stairs and out the front door, past Effy who was standing with her back up against the wall, obviously being shoved to the side by Tim, a photo frame smashed at her feet that must have fallen as she slammed in to the wall. I closed the door behind me, pushing Tim away as he tried to get past me and back inside.

"What that fuck do you want?" I asked him.

"I want to talk to Katie." He told me angrily.

"No fucking chance." I told him. There was no way I was going to let him see Katie, just to let him hurt her again.

"Look, I just want to talk to her, okay? Let me upstairs."

"No. You've hurt her enough already. Just get to fuck."

Tim's face softened. His anger disappeared and was replaced by a look of sadness. "Please, Cook. I just need to talk to her."

I studied him for a moment, trying to figure out if his sadness was genuine or faked. It seemed real, but I still didn't trust him. He had hurt Katie. Ripped her to fucking pieces. I wasn't going to just let him march inside and do it all over again. I shook my head at him. "No Tim. You've done enough already. I think you should just leave."

I heard a voice behind me. "No." I turned around and saw Katie standing on the front steps, dressed in her pink pyjamas. Effy was standing right next to her, holding Katie's hand tightly.

"What?" I asked her, surprised and, quite frankly, annoyed that she was giving this prick a chance. "Katie, you don't need to listen to him." I told her, not wanting her to feel like she had to.

"No, I want to." Katie said, not looking at me, but staring straight at Tim.

Tim turned to me. "Reckon you could give us a minute?" He asked. I walked up the front steps and was about to walk past Katie and go back inside when she grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"No. They are staying here. Whatever you want to say, you can say in front of them."

I turned and walked back down the steps, the four of us now standing in a semi-circle.

"Right. Well… Okay then…" Tim started. It was clear that he was a bit nervous. Katie, Effy and I all looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to speak. "Um well… I guess I just… I just wanted to come here and apologise for the other day." He said. Katie said nothing, her face expressionless as she continued to stare at him. When it became clear that she wasn't going to say anything, Tim continued.

"I shouldn't have flipped out the way I did. I was just shocked, that's all."

We still said nothing.

"I just… I don't understand why you didn't tell me this earlier. I thought we were doing well. I thought we were moving forward."

"We were moving forward." Katie said bitterly. "We still could have been moving forward, if you hadn't reacted like you did."

"No we couldn't. You knew that the one thing I wanted was a family. A real family. And you knew the whole time that you couldn't give me that."

I saw anger come over Katie's face and Effy gripped her hand tighter. "Has it even crossed your mind that you could have still had a family? Just because I can't have children, doesn't mean we could never have any children at all. We could have adopted, or we could have found an egg donor and used a surrogate."

"That's not a real family!" Tim said loudly.

"Fuck off, it's not! Katie shouted back. "Family doesn't depend on who someone's biological parents are, or who gives birth to them! It's about loving each other, and caring for one another. It's about being there for them and helping them when things get tough, and laughing with them when things are good! It shouldn't matter whether a kid was made by you and me in the bedroom, if it was made in a test tube in a lab, or if it was made by two strangers on the other side of the world. Being parents and having a family means loving your children unconditionally, regardless of how or where they were born."

Tim stood in silence, just staring at Katie, looking shocked at her sudden outburst.

"This is family." Katie said, raising her and Effy's intertwined fingers and nodding toward me. "Loving each other, helping each other and sticking up for each other, no matter what."

I smiled to myself when I heard that. Family. We were a family. For the first time in my life, I was actually considered part of a family. I looked at Katie and winked at her. She smiled a tiny smile back and for the first time in four days, she looked truly happy.

Tim stared for a moment longer before finally shaking his head. "It wouldn't work." He said. "All that stuff you said… It's not true. You're just trying to convince yourself that it is because you're broken." When I heard those words I felt my blood boil. Anger like I have never experienced before rose up inside me and I took a step toward Tim, grabbed him by the front of the shirt and pulled my hand back, ready to punch the fuck out of him, when I felt someone push by me and hit him square on the nose, knocking him backwards to the ground, the front of his shirt tearing as it was pulled out of my grip. Katie was standing over him, a look of pure hatred on her face as he lay on the ground, covering his nose as the blood poured down his chin, over his ripped shirt and on to the cement. Katie turned and stormed back in to the house.

Tim sat up, still holding his nose. "Who the fuck does she think she is?" he said. His voice was sounded very nasal, letting me know that Katie had probably broken his nose. I was impressed. I didn't know she could throw such a good punch.

"She's Katie fucking Fitch." Effy said, before following Katie in to the house.

"Fuck off now." I told him, resisting the urge to kick the shit out of him and walking back up the front steps and in to the house.

I closed the front door behind me and heard Katie and Effy's voices coming from the kitchen. I walked in there and saw Effy getting a bag of frozen peas out of the freezer. She passed it to Katie, who held it to her red knuckles. "That was quite a punch you threw there, Katiekins. I think you broke his nose." I told her, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"He deserved it." She said, as she and Eff sat down as well.

"Too right he did. I'm just bummed I didn't get to do it myself."

Katie laughed. A real laugh, like I hadn't heard in days. I smiled at the sound.

"Who'd have thought he'd turn out to be such a dick?" Katie said.

"He is definitely a tosser." I agreed.

"You know that all that stuff he said is rubbish, right Katie?" Effy asked.

Katie nodded. "Yeah, I know. I think you guys have finally convinced me of that."

I smiled at her and Effy placed a kiss on the top of her head as she got up and flicked on the kettle.

"Sorry for being such a cunt the last few days." Katie said.

Effy slapped her lightly around the head and I nudged her foot with mine.

"Don't be stupid, you haven't been a cunt." I told her.

"Yes I have been," she said, continuing quickly before I could protest again. "But thanks either way. I really appreciate it."

We spent the rest of the afternoon mucking around, celebrating the fact that Tim was history and that Katie was 100% over him. We cleaned up the house so that it would look presentable for Naomi and Emily when they arrived home the next day and then we called Freddie and told him to come over. The four of went to Uncle Keith's pub for dinner and then back to our place, where we stayed up all night talking, laughing, watching movies, playing games and drinking, though not enough for us to be hung-over in the morning. We went to bed just as the sun was rising; me and Katie crashing on our mattress, Freddie and Effy taking Emily and Naomi's bed.

* * *

**Emily:**

Our month in Goa had been absolutely amazing. We had spent most of our time on the beach, even though it was raining a lot of the time. We went on a few tours, learning all about Goa and seeing the sights. The last 2 weeks, when we had stayed in the beachside hut, had been utterly incredible. We would get up in the morning (after have some amazing morning sex, of course) and step straight out on to the sand and take a long walk along the beach. Normally we would spend a few hours swimming in the clear water, or sunbathing whenever the sun broke through the clouds long enough for us to try to tan our pale bodies. We had sex whenever we felt like it; sometimes right there on our secluded little patch of beach, sometimes back in our hut. We went out to little restaurants for dinner most nights, hitting a local bar after and having a few drinks, before walking – or stumbling, as was often the case – back along the beach to our hut and losing ourselves among the sheets once again.

Eventually it came time for us to leave. We packed our things, had one last quick, but passionate lovemaking session on our beach and headed back to Vasco da Gama and caught the plane to Delhi. We had a fair bit of waiting around to do at the airport before we could get our plane back to London. We were both quite tired from having to get up so early that morning so we decided to just sit in the customs lounge while we waited. Naomi fell asleep, her head resting against my shoulder. She was so cute when she slept. Her cheek was squashed against my shoulder, her mouth open slightly, her breathing deep. She stayed like that for a long time, waking up eventually and complaining that my shoulder was too low and it was hurting her neck. She put her feet up on the lounge beside her and curled up, resting her head in my lap. I played with her hair and within minutes she was asleep again. I continued to play with her hair as I watched her sleeping, before running my fingers lightly across her forehead, over her closed eyelids, down her nose, over her lips, around the curve of her jaw, down her neck and over the exposed skin of her tanned shoulder. She was wearing a tank top today, and as I lightly tickled her shoulder I saw her skin break out in goosebumps. I lightly rubbed my hand up and down her bare arms, making the goosebumps disappear. I rubbed past the curve of her elbow and down her forearm, taking her hand that was snuggled in to her chest. I smiled as Naomi laced our fingers together, even though she was still fast asleep.

We had really become a lot closer over the last month. It was like were one person, not two separate beings. It felt like we had been together for years. We could tell what the other was thinking from one simple glance. We knew basically everything about each other. I can honestly say I didn't have a single secret that I kept from her and I was pretty sure she wasn't keeping any from me. I knew when she would drink coffee and when she would prefer a cup of tea, and I knew exactly how to make it for her. When we went out for dinner she could always guess exactly what I wanted, without me saying a word. I could tell when she wanted to spend time together and when she needed her alone time. She knew what music I felt like listening to, just by knowing what my mood was. We knew each other perfectly. I know it sounds like a fucking cliché, but we really did complete each other. When we were together, it felt like I was whole. When we were apart, even if it was just for a few minutes, I felt like she had taken a part of me with her and I found myself thinking about her constantly, waiting for her to return, and bring the missing part of me back.

But even though it seemed like we had been together forever, we definitely had not lost any of our passion. On the contrary, we were both more passionate than we had ever been before. We never got sick of each other's company. We both needed to be constantly touching or kissing each other. We had sex at pretty much every available opportunity. It was like every moment we spent together just made us want to spend even more time together. There were no words to describe it. It was just right.

Before I knew it, I heard the voice come through the speakers telling us that it was time to board our flight. It was crazy how time just seemed to disappear when I was with Naomi. I had been watching her sleep for hours and hours and it had felt like only a few minutes. I gently woke Naomi and we picked up our carry on luggage and boarded the plane.

We sat in a row of three, right above the wing. Naomi took the window seat and I sat in the middle. A young man sat on my other side. Naomi fell back asleep pretty much right after take off and I pulled a novel out of my bag and began reading. I must have dozed off at some stage because I woke up with a start when I felt a bump. Naomi sat up straight and gripped the arms rests hard. She wasn't a fan of flying and always freaked out as soon as we hit the smallest amount of turbulence. I closed the novel that had fallen in to my lap when I fell asleep and put it back in my bag. I took Naomi's hand and squeezed it gently, giving her a smile. She didn't smile back.

"It's okay love, it's just a bit of turbulence. It'll be over soon." I told her, leaning over and kissing her lightly on the cheek. She didn't seem reassured.

The plane gave another bump and she laced our fingers together and squeezed my hand tighter. "Why don't you try and go back to sleep?" I said.

She nodded slightly, released my hand and rested her head on my shoulder. I rested my head lightly on hers and moved my hand so that it rested on her thigh. She wrapped her arms around my arm and held it tight, like a child cuddling a teddy bear. Without me even realising, my fingers automatically starting softly stroking the inside of her thigh. My hand drifted slightly higher up her thigh and she gave a little shudder and took a deep breath, making me realise what I was doing. I smiled at the affect I was having on her, but didn't stop, continuing to tickle her thigh lightly through the fabric of her jeans.

Every time the plane bumped a little bit, Naomi would squeeze my arm a little tighter. We went through a particularly bumpy patch and Naomi squeezed my arm so tight that it actually hurt. "Naoms, relax. Just ignore it and try to go back to sleep." I said, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

"It's kind of hard to relax or go to sleep when you're touching me like that." She whispered. I looked at my hand. It had drifted incredibly close to her centre without me even noticing.

"Sorry." I said, pulling my hand away and placed it on the armrest.

"I didn't mean for you to stop…" She said quietly.

I smiled to myself and put my hand back where it was, moving my fingers in small circles. Naomi gasped as I touched her and turned her head to place soft kisses on my shoulder. After a few minutes Naomi starting squirming slightly in her seat. I could see the guy next to me giving us sideways glances every now and then but I chose to ignore him. Suddenly Naomi sat up straight. "Meet me in the toilet." She whispered in my ear, before standing up and squeezing past me and the man next to me and walking up the aisle to the back of the plane, despite the fact that the captain had turned on the seatbelt sign ten minutes earlier. I stayed in my seat a minute longer, before unbuckling my seatbelt.

The guy next to me gave a small laugh. I turned to look at him. "Yes?" I asked him.

He smiled and shook his head but didn't look up from the book he was reading. "Nothing," he said. "You two just really aren't very subtle."

I sat on the edge of my seat, getting ready to stand up. "I'm about to get fucked in an airplane toilet. Subtlety is not really my first priority at the moment."

He just laughed. I stood up and squeezed past him. "Have fun." He said as I started up the aisle.

I reached the toilets and saw that only one was showing the occupied sign. Assuming that was the one Naomi was in, I knocked quietly on the door. "Naoms, it's me." I whispered. I heard the lock slide back at the same time as I heard a voice behind me.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but the seatbelt sign is on, so I'm going to have to ask you to return to your seat." I turned around to see an airhostess standing right behind me, indicating that I go back to my seat.

"Um yeah, sorry, it's just my friend isn't very well and I just want to make sure she's okay." I told the hostess. Right at that moment Naomi poked her head out of the cubicle. Thank goodness Naomi was still looking pale from being so frightened from the turbulence. The airhostess took one look at her pale face and believed my story straight away.

"Of course," she said, "Let me know if there's anything I can get you. Just try to return to your seats as soon as you can."

"Thank you." I said, smiling at her, trying my best to be convincing when I could feel Naomi tugging on my arms, trying to pull me inside.

The airhostess turned around and disappeared behind a curtain. I shoved Naomi backwards in to the cubicle and followed her in, closing the door and locking it behind me. Naomi's lips were on mine in a second and she wasted no time in slipping in her tongue. Knowing we had to be quick, I pushed Naomi's tank top and bra up in one go, exposing her tits. I leant down and sucked her nipples as my hands found the button on her jeans and undid them. I slipped my hand right down her knickers and cupped her centre, which was already extremely wet. I stroked a finger back and forward a few times as she tipped her head back and tangled her fingers in my hair.

I moved my lips to her neck and kissed my way up her throat, making my way back to her lips. As our tongues continued to battle, Naomi hitched my skirt up and pulled my knickers down so they were around my knees. She put her hands under my bum, lifted me up and placed me down so I was sitting on the tiny bench, as far to the side as I could so that I didn't slip in to the sink. I gasped as the cold steel bench touched my naked bum.

Naomi took a step back, causing my hand to be pulled out of her jeans. She wasted no time in kneeling down, and it crossed my mind that the ground was probably really dirty, however that thought was quickly forgotten as she spread my legs apart and plunged her tongue deep inside me. I managed to suppress my moans as she continued to lick and suck me and had to bite my fist to stop myself from calling out as she suddenly stuck two fingers inside me.

My hips began to rock as she continued to thrust in and out, fast and hard, curling her fingers inside me as she did so. With the combination of her sucking and thrusting, it didn't take long for me to come. Naomi must have been able to feel my climax building because as I was getting close, she removed her lips from my cunt and stood up, still thrusting her fingers in and out, her thumb now pressing against my clit.

She wrapped her free arm around my neck and kissed me hard as I climaxed, muffling the sounds of my groans. She sucked on my neck as I regained my breath. As soon as I was able to think straight again, I pushed her jeans and knickers down so that they were around her knees and instructed her to spread her feet apart as wide as she could. I ran my hand down her stomach and slipped a few fingers inside her. I pumped them in and out, my thumb hitting her clit on every thrust.

We looked in each other's eyes as I brought my girlfriend closer to her climax, kissing occasionally. Naomi's legs started shaking and I tore my eyes away from hers and took in the sight of her. Her top and bra were pushed up, exposing her boobs, her jeans and knickers down around her knees, he legs spread wide. She had her hands pressed against the walls, trying to keep herself steady, as I fucked her, still sitting on the cold bench, my skirt still pushed up, my knickers still pushed down.

Naomi's whole body began to quiver and I felt her walls tighten around my fingers. I continued to curl my fingers inside her as she came, her whole body shaking, biting her lip to stop herself from making any noise, fighting to keep her eyes open as we looked deep in to each other's eyes. Her orgasm was surprisingly strong and lasted quite a while, considering how rushed we had been. I held her tight to me for a moment as she relaxed, before jumping off the bench and pulling her bra and top down for her. I bent over and pulled my knickers up and adjusted my skirt as she did up her jeans. We looked in the mirror and smoothed our hair and splashed some water on our flushed faces, before returning to our seats and trying to ignore the guy next to me who now had a huge grin on his face.

I took Naomi's hand and rested my head on her shoulder, as she had done to me earlier. My eyes grew heavy and I allowed myself to drift off to sleep, snuggled against Naomi, and didn't wake up until I felt Naomi shaking my shoulder gently, whispering to me that we were in London and it was time to get off the plane.

Gina met us at the airport and drove us back to Bristol. We shared all our stories of Goa and she filled us in on the news in Bristol, which was basically that there was no news. We got back to our house around 10pm, to find Katie, Cook, Effy and Freddie all sitting in the lounge room looking bored. They all jumped up to give us hugs when we got in and then started complaining that they had been sitting around for hours doing nothing because they thought we would be getting home hours ago. Apparently Naomi had miscalculated the time difference when she sent them the email telling them what time we would get home. Thank god I was the one that emailed Gina telling her when to pick us up.

Cook passed around beers and me, Naomi, Katie, Cook, Effy, Freddie and Gina sat around in the lounge room drinking, while me and Naomi told everyone about our trip and passed out the few shitty souvenirs we had picked up along the way.

"What's been happening here while we were away?" I asked, once Naomi and I had run out of stories. I was fucking tired, but I was too excited about seeing my sister and friends again to go to bed.

"Me and Tim broke up." Katie said.

"What a douche." Cook, Effy and Freddie all said at exactly the same time, before cracking up laughing, finding the situation funnier than they normally would have because of all the beer they had consumed. And from the amount of empty bottles lying around, I think they had started drinking a fair while before we got home.

"How come?" I asked, once everyone had finally stopped laughing.

"Because he's a dickhead!" Shouted Cook, raising his beer bottle and clinking it against Effy's and Freddie's before the three of them fell in to laughter once again.

I turned back to Katie, trying to block out the three drunks that were sitting on my lounge room floor. "Why?" I asked her again. I was quite surprised. We hadn't had much contact with everyone while we were away, so last I had heard, they were getting along great.

"He found out I couldn't have kids and went a bit mental." Katie said. My mouth dropped open in shock. He _was_ a douche.

"But then Katie decked him and he fucked off." Effy informed me happily.

"Hope you did it fucking hard." Naomi said. I smiled at how defensive Naomi was getting for my twin who she had once hated.

"She did! Broke his fucking nose!" said Cook.

"Wow. Impressive." Naomi and I said at the same time, causing Cook, Effy and Freddie to explode in fits of laughter once again. This time it was contagious and me, Naomi and Katie all joined in. We sat around the lounge room, holding our stomachs and gasping from breath, doubled over in hysterics. It wasn't even that funny, but once we had started we couldn't stop. It was like the time me and Naomi lay on the floor of her room talking about oilllssss. The sound of each other's laughter just spurred us on even more, until most of us were literally rolling around on the floor, Gina just eyeing us like we had all gone insane. Eventually she stood up and said a goodbye that went unanswered and let herself out the front door.

The rest of the night became a blur as the alcohol continued to flow. I woke up in the morning, head pounding, face down on my bed. I lifted my throbbing head and looked around. I was lying with my head at the foot of the bed that was still made and I was wearing the same clothes I had been wearing yesterday. Naomi was lying adjacent to me, her head resting on my back, her feet dangling off the side of the bed. She, too, was still wearing the clothes she had worn yesterday, except she had apparently been sober enough to remove her jeans. Either that or someone else had done it for her… I rested my aching head back down, thinking I might as well go back to sleep and try to sleep off this fucking terrible hangover, however my doze was interrupted when someone barged in to the room, sounding more like they walked right through the door, rather than opening it.

"FREDDIE!" I heard Cook shout. Freddie's head suddenly popped up from the foot of my bed, only a few centimeters away from me, causing me to jump a fucking mile, which made Naomi's head slip from where it was resting on my back.

"What the fuck's going on?" Naomi asked, massaging her temples, which I assumed were throbbing about as much as mine.

"Freddie, I have my job interview and I have no fucking clothes. I need to borrow something of yours."

"Interview?" I asked, "What interview?"

"I have a job interview." Cook said.

Yeah, cheers, Cook. That really cleared that one up.

"Well the only clothes I have here are the ones that I was wearing last night. They're down in the lounge room." Freddie said.

"Why the fuck are your clothes down there if you're up here?" Naomi asked, taking the words right out of my mouth.

"I'm not really sure, I just woke up and realised I didn't have my clothes on." Freddie said.

"Any clothes?" I asked him.

"Not a stitch." He answered.

"Are you wearing clothes, Eff?" Naomi asked. I didn't even know Effy was down there.

"Nope."

"Please don't tell me you guys fucked on the floor of our bedroom while we were right here." I said, disgusted at the thought.

"I wish I could say we didn't but I honestly have no idea." Effy said.

"Ew."

"Hate to interrupt, but could we please get back to my problem?" Cook said.

"What time is your interview?" Freddie asked

"11"

"And what time is it now?"

"Half 10."

"Well if we go now, we should have time to get some clothes from my place and you can still get to your interview on time."

"Great, let's go then." Cook said and left the room.

There was silence in the room for a moment.

"Um could you guys just close your eyes for a moment or something so I can get up please?" Came Freddie's voice from the end of the bed.

"Here, just use this." I told him, chucking him the blanket that always sits on the foot of our bed.

Freddie took the blanket and wrapped it around himself.

"Hey, that's my favourite blanket!" Naomi said.

"Chill, yeah? I'll wash it if it bothers you that much." Freddie said as he left the room.

"I'm going to take a shower." I said, after Effy, Naomi and I had lay in silence for a few minutes.

"Me too!" Naomi said, grabbing my hand and pulling me off the bed. Apparently someone was suffering withdrawal symptoms from not having sex for 24 hours. Not that I blamed her…

"Grab some clothes, if you need, Eff." I called over my shoulder as Naomi dragged me out of the room and in to the bathroom.


	15. Chapter 15

**Bit of a shorter chapter, but I thought this was better than nothing. Hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

**Katie:**

I woke up to fingers tickling lightly over my naked stomach. I could feel someone's body pressed up against my back and their hot breath on the back of my neck, but I wasn't awake enough to actually know who it was. I opened my eyes and my immediately aching head brought the memories of last night rushing back. We hadn't done much. Just sat around drinking and mucking around. When Freddie had started stripping in the lounge room I decided it was time to crash.

I lay on the mattress, appreciating the light touch on my belly. I didn't really care who it was because their feather-light touch was very relaxing, and relaxing was definitely what I needed to get rid of this monster headache.

The hand started to drift higher up my stomach, until the fingers started brushing along the bottom of my bra, just below my tits. I decided it was probably time find out who the hand belonged to. I turned my head slightly, and saw that Cook was lying behind me, half naked, his face buried in my hair. I noticed for the first time that my head was actually resting on one of his arms.

Figuring it didn't really matter if a hung-over Cook was spooning me in his sleep, I rested my head back down and let him continue to touch me. After a few minutes I felt the breath on the back of my neck speed up slightly. I thought that he had probably woken up, but I didn't say anything because his touch felt _so_ good. I know it was probably wrong to think that since we are just friends, but fuck it.

I knew Cook was awake when his light tickling turned in to more defined movements. He moved his fingers in small circles on my stomach. He brushed his hand down and circled my belly button before moving back up and flattening his hand flush to my stomach and rubbing his palm over my ribs. As he gently slid one finger from one side of my stomach to the other, right below my bra, I let out an involuntary shiver. His hand stopped immediately and I felt him stiffen up, obviously trying to figure out if I was awake or not.

I lay still and kept my eyes closed, not wanting him to know that I was awake and enjoying his touch all along. He must have decided that I was still asleep because I felt him place a lingering kiss on my bare shoulder, before rolling over and gently pulling his arm out from where it lay, under my head. Cook lay on his side of the mattress for a minute, me still pretending to be asleep, until he suddenly sat up straight. "Fuck!" I heard him say.

I rolled over to look at him. "What?" I asked.

"I have to be at my job interview in 35 minutes! I completely forgot about it!" He said, jumping up at rushing to the wardrobe. "And I have no fucking idea what to wear!" I hopped out of bed and joined him at the wardrobe, attempting to ignore my pounding head.

"Look, you just go take a shower and I'll find you some clothes." I told him.

Cook rushed out of the room and I heard the shower start only seconds later. I began flicking through his clothes. He really didn't have anything to wear. All his trousers were either covered in stainsor had holes in them. It was the same with all his shirts.

A couple of weeks ago, Cook had sent his resume to some company that owned loads of different shops all around Bristol. Apparently they would keep his resume for a while and if any of the shops were looking for a worker, they would give him a call. So yesterday Cook had got a phone call saying that there was a petrol station a few streets away that was hiring and could he go in for an interview the next day (as in today) at 11.

A couple of minutes later, Cook came back in to the bedroom, towel wrapped around his waist, hair still wet.

"You need new clothes." I told him. "Everything you have is either dirty or ripped."

"So what do I wear then?" He asked. I could tell he was panicking slightly. This was his first job interview and he wanted to make a good impression.

"Relax, yeah? Just go and ask Freddie if you can borrow something of his."

Cook ran out of the room and I heard him barge in to Emily and Naomi's room and call out for Fred.

A couple of minutes he came back in and pulled on the first pair of pants and shirt he saw.

"Cook, you _cannot_ wear that to an interview." I told him looking at the jeans that were ripped in the knee and the t-shirt that had a big tomato sauce stain all down the front.

"I'm not, I'm going over to Freddie's to get some of his clothes."

"Oh. Right."

"What should I get?"

"Just some good trousers and a button up shirt would probably be fine. Just as long as you look tidy and presentable."

"Okay. Any other advice?" He asked, tying his shoes.

"Just be confident and polite. No swearing or anything. And try not to let them know that you're hung-over." I told him.

"I'm not hung-over." He said. "I stopped drinking ages before the rest of you because I didn't want a hangover for my interview."

So Cook hadn't been drunk when he came to bed last night, and hadn't been hung-over when he was touching me like that this morning. Interesting.

A few second later and Cook and Freddie were out the front door. I heard the shower start up and, assuming it was Emily or Naomi, I went off in search of Effy. I went downstairs and checked the kitchen and lounge room but she wasn't down there. Her clothes, however, were in a pile on the lounge room floor. Figuring she might need them, I picked them up and went back upstairs, knowing that she must have slept in Naomi and Emily's room. Sure enough, when I opened the door, there was Effy, completely naked, lying on the floor, half asleep. It didn't bother me, seeing her naked. I had seen her naked loads of times when she had been in hospital. There was a while, after she tried to kill herself, when she needed help doing most things, so there had been plenty of times when I had helped her take a shower. And she had done the same for me this past week when I had been a mess over Tim.

"Here, thought these might come in handy." I said, chucking her clothes at her.

"Thanks." She said, sitting up and starting to get dressed.

"So Cook and Freds are both out," I said to her, as she pulled on her shirt. "Do you want to go out shopping or something? Or get a coffee or some lunch?"

"Yeah, sounds good. Wanna see if Naoms and Em wanna come too?"

"Yeah, good idea." I said.

I was looking forward to spending some time with my sister. We drove each other mad half the time, but I had missed her while she had been gone.

* * *

**Naomi:**

My afternoon with Emily, Effy and Katie at the shops wasn't too bad. Katie is a fucking pain in the arse when we go shopping, always telling me to buy stuff that I hate. Thankfully Effy was there to keep me sane and Emily was there to defend my fashion sense, telling Katie that she likes my clothes every time Katie told me that it wouldn't be possible for me to look more like 'a fucking lezza' as she so eloquently put it.

I was surprised, when we got home, to see Mum and Kieran's car out the front of the house. We went inside and deposited out purchases on the sofa, before joining Cook, Freddie, Mum and Kieran in the kitchen.

"Hello dear," Mum said, giving me a hug. "We just came over to drop off this vegetarian casserole for you." She pointed to a dish wrapped in tin foil that was sitting on the kitchen table. "I made one last week and Kieran loved it so much that I decided to make another one for you lot." I saw Kieran standing behind my mother shaking his head and poking his tongue out in a disgusted face. I suppressed a laugh and thanked my mother before crossing the room to hug Kieran.

"Good news Naomikins!" Cook said. I looked at him, waiting for him to tell me what his news was. "I got the job! I am officially a working man."

"Congratulations!" I said, pulling him in to a hug, before Emily pushed me aside so that she could hug him. "We should celebrate. Just get some pizzas or something and have a few drinks, yeah?"

Everyone nodded their agreement.

"Gina, Kieran, you'll stay too, yeah?" Cook asked my mother and stepfather.

"Yes, thank you James, that would be lovely." Mum said.

I called the pizza shop and ordered a few pizzas and sent Kieran to go and pick them up. He came back fifteen minutes later with a stack of pizzas and a case of beer. We sat around the kitchen pigging out on the chews and booze, before heading out to Uncle Keith's pub for more cheap drinks.

The next couple of weeks flew past amazingly fast. It was strange adjusting back to life in Bristol. We settled in to a bit of a routine. Cook worked from 12noon till 8pm Mondays to Fridays and I had managed to get myself a job at the bakery that was just a few shops up from the petrol station where Cook worked, since I desperately needed to replenish my rapidly decreasing savings. Emily said that she would get a job as well and help me save money for university, but I told her she didn't need to. Even after going away, she still had plenty of money saved up since Jenna had forced both Emily and Katie to save pretty much every penny of their pocket money when they were growing up.

So every weekday morning I would get up and go to work. It wasn't so bad. I started at 9 am most mornings, so I didn't have to get up too early, and it meant I was able to give Mum and Kieran some money for rent. Cook paid some as well. I wouldn't let Emily pay any, telling her that I was paying on behalf of the both of us. Cook did the same for Katie.

It was funny the way Cook and Katie acted around each other. They seemed almost like they were a couple, yet they weren't going out. They shared a room and they went out together lots. Whenever all four of us went out together it felt like it was a double date or something. I often caught Cook watching Katie whenever we were together and I had a sneaky suspicion that he liked her, but I wasn't too sure.

I got home on Saturday afternoon, after paying Mum and Kieran a quick visit, to find Katie and Cook asleep on the couch, cuddled up together. I went upstairs and found Emily sitting on our bed reading a book. I hopped on to the bed and cuddled up next to her. She gave me a quick kiss and asked how Mum and Kieran were before returning to her book.

"Will you read it aloud?" I asked her.

"You won't understand it." She said. "I'm already halfway through, you don't know the start of it."

"I don't care." I told her. I didn't care what she read; I just liked to hear her voice. It found it calming.

Emily began reading out loud. I wasn't really listening to words, just her voice. As I listened, I found my body relaxing. My thoughts began to wander, and I found myself thinking about Cook and Katie. I really couldn't figure out what was going on between them. I was pretty sure by now that Cook liked her, but I wasn't too sure how Katie felt about him. Sometimes I thought maybe she liked him, but then at other times I had trouble imaging it. Katie and Cook were not a couple I would have picked, but now I thought about it, it could probably work quite well.

"What are you thinking, Hun?" I heard Emily ask me.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Keep reading." I answered.

Emily closed to book and put it on the bedside table. "Babe, I can tell when something's on your mind, so you might as well just tell me what it is."

"It's really nothing. I was just wondering what's going on between Cook and Katie."

"Oh yeah. I was thinking about that earlier."

"Do you think they like each other?" I asked her.

"I'm pretty sure Katie likes Cook. She's quite flirty with him. And I keep seeing her look at him. Like just at random times. We'll be doing something and I'll just catch her staring at him. Then she looks away when she realises what she doing. But I'm not sure if Cook likes her back."

"Ha. I was the opposite way around. I'm pretty sure Cook likes Katie, but I wasn't sure if Katie likes him."

Emily gave a little laugh. "So we're pretty sure they both like each other. But they aren't together."

"Yep." I agreed.

"Reckon we should help them out?" She asked.

"No, Ems, we can't meddle. Just let them figure it out for themselves."

"But what if they never figure it out?"

"I'm sure they will sooner or later."

"But if we help then it can be sooner."

"Emily, it's not our place to force them together."

"Oh c'mon, it'll be fun. It can be our little project. I'll talk to Katie and tell her that I think Cook likes her, and you talk to Cook and tell him that you think Katie likes him. Once they realise then they can get together."

"No. Emily, I'm not going to force them together."

"Why not?" Emily asked.

"Because." I answered.

"Because isn't an answer." Emily told me.

I said nothing.

"I just want to see my sister happy for once, Naoms." Emily said, sticking out her lower lip slightly.

"I know what you're doing, Emily, it's not going to work." I told her.

"What's so wrong with wanting my _twin siste_r to be happy?" She said, putting on her puppy dog eyes.

I looked at her for a moment, willing myself not to give in. But damn, that face was adorable. "Fine." I agreed, unable to deny Emily anything. "I'll talk to Cook. But that's it. Once I talk to him I'm staying out of it."

"Yay!" Emily said. It was quite cute how excited she was to be playing the matchmaker. "So just talk to Cook and tell him that Katie likes him and tell him that he should ask her out."

"What? No, Ems, you said just tell him that I think Katie likes him."

Emily put her puppy dog eyes back on. "Please? For the happiness of both me and my sister?"

"Oh, fucksake, fine. But you're going to owe me for this." I told her.

"That's fine. I know a pretty good way to pay you back." Emily said, winking at me.

I settled back down, cuddling back in to her, looking forward to tonight when she would be paying me back.

A couple of days later, after being sent home from work early because we were over staffed, I was walking past the petrol station where Cook worked and decided to drop in and see him. I walked in to the little shop and saw Cook and another guy behind the counter. I stood in Cook's line and waited for my turn to be served. When the person in front of me walked away, I stepped up to the counter. I looked at Cook in his trousers and gray polo shirt. He had a name badge on his chest that said '_H__ello, my name is James'._ I couldn't help but laugh at it.

"Hello, James." I said. Cook was doing something at the register and had not yet noticed that I was his next customer. His head shot up at the sound of my voice and he looked a bit embarrassed.

"Shut up, you know I prefer Cook." He told me.

"But your name badge says your name is James." I teased him.

"Yeah, well I didn't get a choice of what they put on there now, did I?" He said.

"Doesn't matter. Your badge says James, so I'll call you James."

"Whatever. Are you here for a reason, or did you just come to laugh at me?" he asked.

"Actually, James, I am here for a reason. I got off work early, so I thought I'd come and see when your lunch break was. See if you wanted to get some lunch together."

Cook looked at the man at the next register, who I assumed was his boss.

"You can take your break whenever you want it." The man said. "Just be back in half an hour."

"Cheers John." Cook said, closing his register and stepping out from behind the counter.

"You're buying though, Blondie." Cook said to me.

"I'd be happy to, James." I said.

"Oh, fucksake." Cook said, pulling his name badge off and shoving it in his pocket. "There, now you have to call me Cook again."

A few minutes later we were sitting at a table outside a small café with a sandwich each.

"So, _Cook_, what's new?" I asked him.

Cook gave me a strange look. I didn't blame him. Me and him didn't talk like this normally. Living together meant we knew pretty much everything about what was going on in each other's lives.

"Um, not a lot." Cook answered, lighting up a cigarette before passing me one and lighting it for me.

"Got your eye on any girls?" I asked, trying to get more to the point.

"No." Cook said.

"None at all?"

"Nah. You know me. Just have whoever I feel like at the time." He said, forcing a laugh.

His efforts went to waste, however, since I knew he had hardly been with any girls since that Arsia freak. I knew him well enough to know that sleeping with lots of girls was just an act he put on to make himself seem cool. He had gotten over that after college though. He had grown up a lot.

"So you don't like Katie then?" I asked him, figuring I might as well come right out with it since he clearly wasn't going to just tell me.

His eyes shot up to mine. "No," he said, not very convincingly. "Why would you think that?"

I just raised an eyebrow at him, letting him know that it was pretty obvious.

"Fine." He said, "I'm fucking in love with Katie Fitch."

"What?" I asked, shocked.

"What?" He asked me.

"You love her?"

"Yeah… I thought you had figured that out…"

"No. I mean I thought you liked her, I didn't realise you love her."

"Oh." He said, "Damn."

"No, it's good." I told him, "I'm glad you told me. Now we can figure out how you should tell her."

"What? No. I'm not telling her." He said.

"Why not?"

"Because… She doesn't feel the same. And I'm not fucking up what we have. I just have to get over it. I've done it once already with Eff, and I can do it again."

"What makes you think that she doesn't like you?" I asked him.

"I just know she doesn't. We are just friends to her. I mean why would she like me? I'm 18 years old, never finished college, the best job I can get is at a fucking petrol station and I spent most of the last year in prison. Yeah, I'm a great catch." He said sarcastically.

"Katie doesn't care about that stuff." I told him.

"I know she doesn't. But she can do better than me. We wouldn't be right for each other."

"My arse, you're not right for each other. You two are the biggest sluts I know, you're perfect for each other!"

"Thanks."

"Sorry." I said. "But I do think you guys would be great for each other. Whenever you two are together you are both the happiest I have ever seen you."

"Yeah, because we're friends. Just friends. Katie doesn't see me as anything more than that and she never will."

"Emily is pretty sure she likes you."

Cook's eyes darted up to mine. "Really?" he asked, sounding hopeful.

I nodded.

He shook his head. "Even if she does like me, it doesn't matter. She's one of my best friends and I'm not going to risk screwing that up."

I thought for a moment about what to say and some advice that my Mum had given me came back to me. It was about the only bit of decent advice I ever remember her giving me, and it has stuck with me ever since.

"Cook, the people that make us happy are never the people we expect. So when you find someone, you've got to cherish it."

Cook just looked at me. "When did you get so wise, Blondie?"

I smiled. "It's what my Mum told me after I slept with Emily for the first time and I was freaking out. Best advice I ever got."

"She's a smart one, that Gina." He said.

We were quiet for a while as we finished our lunch and began to walk back to Cook's work. "So will you ask Katie out?" I asked. "Or talk to her or something?"

"I'll think about it." He said, putting his name badge back on.

"Good." I said, "See you later James."

"Fuck off" he said, aiming a kick at my arse as I walked away which I managed to dodge.

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**Review?**

**Next chapter might be a couple of days because I have a busy weekend ahead, but I'll get it up asap. Next chapter will have Emily's chat with Katie, which was supposed to be in this chapter, but I wanna go to bed...**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry it has been a few days since my last update. Bit of a writers block with this story at the moment. Think I'm getting over it though... i have the next chapter all planned out, so it should be up tomorrow, or maybe even later today...**

**Thanks to all those who stuck through the lack of Naomi and Emily. There is actually a reason for the Katie/Tim storyline, so I just wanted to get that out of the way. And thanks for the reviews/subscriptions, etc.**

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**Chapter 16**

**Emily:**

I walked outside and sat on the garden chair next to Katie, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it up. I felt Katie looking at me so I turned to face her.

"Yes?" I asked her.

"Nothing."

"Okay…" I sat back in my seat, took a long drag on my fag and exhaled. Katie leant over and pulled the cigarette from my fingers. I began to protest, thinking she was going to put it out. I knew she didn't like me smoking. She shocked me by putting the cigarette to her lips and inhaling, before passing it back to me.

"Since when you do you smoke?" I asked her.

"I don't normally. I just feel like it today."

I took another puff and passed it back to her. "Something on your mind, Katie?"

She didn't say anything for a second. "No." She said finally.

"That was convincing."

I didn't press it. I knew she would tell me whatever she was thinking about when she was ready.

We finished the cigarette and she pulled another one from the packet that was sitting on my armrest. I passed her my lighter and she lit up, keeping this one for herself.

"So I kinda like Cook." Katie said finally.

"I know." I answered.

"You do?"

"Yep."

"How?" She asked me.

"It was kind of obvious."

"Oh. Damn."

"He like you, too, you know." I told her

"No he doesn't."

"Katie, I wasn't asking if he likes you, I'm telling you that he does."

"What makes you so sure?" She asked.

"We can just tell."

"We?"

"Me and Naoms. She is pretty certain that he likes you back."

"Well even if he does, it doesn't matter. We are friends. It would just screw things up." Katie said.

"What makes you so sure it would screw things up?"

"Because. It might be good for a bit, but eventually it'll end and then it'll be all awkward."

"And why will it have to end?" I asked her.

"Because. I'm not the kind of person that people can be with forever."

"Huh? Why do you think that?"

"You know why, Emily. Don't make me talk about it. I don't want to go in to that now."

Of course. She thinks no one will want her for the long term because she can't have kids.

"Katie, you know that Cook doesn't care that you can't have kids."

"Yeah, now he doesn't care. But when he decides that he wants to settle down and have kids, then he'll leave me and move on to someone else."

"Not necessarily." I told her.

"More than likely." Katie said.

"Whatever. I think you should go for it. You guys could be great together."

"Sometimes I think we could be too. We just get each other, you know?"

I nodded. They did seem to understand each other in a way that no one else really did.

We sat in silence for a while, just appreciating each other's company. That was the good thing about Katie and me. We didn't have to talk or do anything; it was just nice to be with each other.

"What if I go for it and it doesn't end up working?" Katie asked me after a long time.

"What if you don't go for it and it would have worked?" I said.

"Fair point."

We sat quietly a while longer.

"But what if it doesn't work out and then I lose him?"

"Katie, like you said, you and Cook get each other. You two are too close to let something like that rip you apart permanently. Even if you don't end up staying together, you two are good enough friends to get over it and move past it. And Cook's not the type of person to let things like that stop him being friends with someone. Look at him and Effy. They are great friends now. And even after all the shit with him, Eff and Freddie, him and Freds are still great friends."

Katie sat quietly for a moment taking it all in.

"Katie, your friendship means too much to Cook for him to just throw it away. So if the only thing stopping you from going for it with him is that you're worried it might mess up your friendship with him, I wouldn't worry about it."

"Mm. I kind of want to go for it. I think we could be kinda good together."

"I think you could be perfect for each other." I told her, standing up and picking up my packet of smokes and lighter. "Go for it Katie. And do it soon, before it gets too hard." I told her, placing a kiss on the top of her head and walking back inside.

I walked in to the kitchen at the exact moment I heard Naomi walk in the front door. I walked out and met her at the bottom of the stairs. I met her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey babe." I said, "You're home early."

I had hardly got the words out when Naomi pulled me toward her and pulled me in to a deep kiss. It shocked me slightly and it took me a moment to register, but when it did I began to kiss her back, slipping my tongue in to her mouth and brushing it along hers. We stood like that for ages, her hands on my neck, mine on her hips. Eventually we pulled away, both out of breath.

"Wow." I said, "What was that for?"

"Do I need a reason?" she asked, giving me another quick peck on the lips.

"Nope. I definitely think you should say hello like that more often though." I said.

She smiled and pulled me in to another deep kiss. We were interrupted when Katie pushed past us to go upstairs.

"Jeez, get a room." She said, as she walked past.

"We have a room, Katie. In fact all these rooms are ours, technically." Naomi said.

"Whatever lezza."

I laughed and wrapped my arms around Naomi's waist, resting my head on her chest. She wrapped her arms around me tight and guided me backwards in to the lounge room. She sat down on the sofa and held her arm out so that I could sit down and cuddle up to her, which I did.

"You smell like bread." I told Naomi.

"Is that good or bad."

"Well it doesn't smell bad, but it doesn't smell like you. And that's bad."

Naomi laughed. "Sorry, I'll get changed in a second."

"No, it's fine. Let's just stay like this for a while. This is nice."

Naomi kissed me on top of the head.

"How was work?" I asked her, "How come you're home so early?"

"It was fine. It was just really quiet and the boss said he would be able to handle it himself so I could go home."

"That was nice of him." I said. I was quite excited about having Naomi home for the afternoon. I still saw her heaps, but I missed having her home during the day.

"Yeah. So I went and met Cook for lunch and had a chat with him."

"About Katie?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"How did it go? What do you say? What did he say?"

"It was fine… I just said that Katie likes him. But Cook doesn't think he is good enough for Katie. He thinks she can do better than him. And he doesn't want to mess up their friendship by trying to make it something more."

"Katie was pretty much the same."

"You talked to her?"

"Yeah, just now."

"How did it go?" She asked me.

"Good. I think I convinced her to go for it."

"Ems, you can't force her in to something. They need to make the decision for themselves."

"I know, but they would never do it themselves. She thinks that even if her and Cook got together now, eventually he would end it with her because she can't have kids. She said eventually Cook will want to settle down and have kids and then he will leave her, so it would be better if they never got together."

"I can't imagine Cook leaving her because he wants kids…" Naomi said.

"I know. That's what I said. But I think I finally convinced her that they would be good together." I said, "So now we just need to find a way to get Katie and Cook together and-"

"No." Naomi cut me off. "Stay out of now, yeah? We've told them what we think so now it's up to them to decide what they do."

"Fine." I reluctantly agreed. "But if my sister and your best friend don't end up getting together and they end up miserable for life-"

"I will accept full responsibility." Naomi said, kissing the back of my hand.

"Do you have any plans for the rest of the day?" Naomi asked me.

"Nope. None. Wanna do something?"

"Well I was thinking about taking you on a date… If you feel like it…"

"A date hey?" I asked, sitting up straight and facing her. "Well that would depend on what you had planned…"

"Well…" Naomi started, placing a quick kiss on my lips. "I was thinking we could get a pizza or something for dinner," She kissed me on my cheek. "And then maybe head down to the lake," she kissed me on the other cheek. "And maybe we could spend the night there?" She kissed me lightly on the lips but pulled away far too soon. I held her neck and pulled her lips back to mine, deepening the kiss. She opened her mouth and I took the chance to slip my tongue in, moving it against hers. I felt her run her fingers lightly down my spine and settled just above my bum. She pushed her hands inside my shirt and lightly rubbed my lower back with her fingertips. I knelt up and pushed her back, so she was resting against the arm of the sofa. I crawled on top of her and lowered my body on to hers. I released the grip I had on her neck and moved my hands to the bottom of her shirt. I slipped my hand inside her shirt and rubbed my palm over the soft skin of her toned stomach. I felt the muscles of her stomach ripple under my touch and I started to pull her shirt up. She sat up for a second and raised her arms over her head so I could remove her shirt completely. I threw the shirt on the floor and leant down to place kisses on her chest. I reached around Naomi's back to undo her bra clasp when I felt her push me back slightly.

"Ems, stop." She said.

I pulled back and looked at her. "What's wrong?" I asked her confused.

"Nothing, but Katie could come downstairs at any second and I don't think she would be too impressed to walk in and find us going at it on the couch. Again."

"Oh yeah. Good point." I untangled myself from Naomi's legs that had wound their way around my waist and stood up. Naomi rose to her feet and followed me out of the room, her arms wrapped around my waist from behind, placing kisses on my neck as we made our way to the bedroom.

"Ems, wake up." I heard Naomi whisper in my ear, before kissing along my jaw, making her way to my mouth and placing a number of quick kisses on my lips. I wrapped my arms around her neck and pulled her close to me, deepening our kiss. She moved so that her naked body was straddling mine and kissed me back for a moment before pulling away and kissing me on the forehead. I tried to pull her back to my lips but she resisted. I groaned in frustration when she refused.

"Ems, we have to get ready for our date." She said, brushing the hair out of my eyes.

"Lets just stay here in bed for the rest of the night." I said, eager to have a re-run of our afternoon.

"Mm, that would be nice, but I have a date planned and Cook just messaged me saying that he wants to talk to Katie tonight so could we please go out for a while."

I sat up when I heard that Cook was planning on talking to Katie. "Really? He's not wasting anytime, is he?"

"Doesn't seem like it. So get up and get dressed in something warm and comfortable. And Kieran said we can borrow his tent and car, so you need to drive us to Mum and Kieran's."

"A tent hey? You really do spoil me, Naoms." I said sarcastically.

"Hey, I just treated you to two weeks in a beachfront hut in Goa, I can't afford much at the moment. So it's either a tent, or a picnic rug on the ground."

"I'm just kidding, Naoms." I said, kissing her quickly, before standing up and finding some clothes to wear. "Me and you in a tent at our lake sounds more than perfect."

An hour later we were at the lake. We had just finished eating our pizza and now we, or more accurately, I, was setting up our tent. Naomi was more of a hindrance than a help. She just kept twisting the tent material and putting the pegs in the wrong place and connecting the poles wrong. Eventually I told her to just start the fire and I would finish the tent by myself.

Half an hour later, the tent was finally set up. The roof was sagging a bit in the middle and I lost one of the pegs so one of the corners was shaking every time a little breeze blew through the trees, but it would be fine for the night. Naomi had started a small fire and we sat in front of it, cuddled together, sipping coffee from a thermos and stealing kisses.

"I wonder how things are going with Cook and Katie…" I thought aloud. "Probably fucking as we speak…"

"I bring you out on a romantic night and you're thinking about your twin sister and my best friend have sex… There's something wrong with you, Emily."

I slapped Naomi lightly on the arm. "Ew. I wasn't thinking about them having sex, I was just stating that they probably were."

"There's a distinction?"

"Yes."

Naomi chuckled quietly.

"So do you know what Cook was planning on saying?"

"No, all I know is that he was going to talk to her."

"Well what do you think he was going to say?" I asked her.

"I have no idea."

"Well do you think he was going to tell her that he likes her?"

"Emily! I don't know! I know no more than you do."

"But he's your best friend, He must have told you something."

Naomi turned to me and kissed me hard on the lips, pushing me back as she did so and climbing on top of me. After a moment she pulled away leaving me sightly breathless.

"Wow." I said.

Naomi smiled. "Now can we stop talking about Cook and Katie's love life and continue with our date?" She said.

I didn't answer, just wrapped my arms around her and rolled us over so that I was on top.

We continued our battle for dominance, slowly shedding our layers until we were just in our bras and knickers. Naomi pulled away from me and grabbed a water bottle and squirted it on our small fire, extinguishing the flames. Her lips attacked mine again and I slid myself back in to the tent. Naomi crawled after me, our lips never parting. As soon as we were inside, Naomi had my bra undone and slid it of my shoulders. Her lips immediately left mine and kissed down my chest before arriving at my naked breasts, nipples erect from both the cold and arousal. I reached behind Naomi and removed her of her bra while she feasted on my tits. I lay back down on the sleeping bags I had set out earlier and pulled Naomi down with me. She straddled me and I bent my leg at the knee, bumping my thigh in to her centre. She gasped as I felt her wetness on my leg, even through her underwear.

I continued grinding my thigh in to her, causing her to let out a loud groan. I took advantage of her moment of weakness and rolled us over. I kissed down her body and pulled her knickers down her legs and dropped them to the floor of the tent. I then took off my own knickers and knelt back and Naomi propped herself up on her elbows. I spread my legs apart so she could see me and I dipped a finger inside my folds, stroking myself softly. I continued doing this for a moment, touching myself with one hand, the other hand slowly massaging my breasts, while Naomi watched, mouth open slightly, eyes wide.

I removed my hand form my wet centre and brought my fingers to my mouth, sucking one of my fingers clean. I was about to suck on another finger when Naomi practically dove at me, knocking me over backwards and grabbed my hand. She sucked the rest of my fingers clean, before moving her lips to mine and slipping her tongue in to my mouth in a dirty, me-flavoured kiss.

We continued kissing passionately, rolling around on the floor of the tent until I managed to pin her down once again. I spread her legs wide and settled my hips between them, slowly grinding my hips into her wet centre. She moaned in to my mouth as her hips bucked up.

I started to pull way from her slightly, Naomi letting out an animalistic groan as she tried to hold me to her. I continued kissing her for a moment before I started to move away again.

"I need you, Em." She said breathlessly, wrapping her fingers around my hair and gently pushing my head down to where she needed it to be. I kissed down her stomach but stopped before I got to where she really needed me.

"Ems, please." She begged. I was tempted to just give her what she wanted straight away, but I was in a teasing mood and even though she said she hated it when I teased her, I knew she secretly loved it and it ended up being better for both of us.

I licked around her bellybutton lightly, before moving up slightly and licking over the curve of her breasts. I sucked each nipple for a moment, before kissing up her neck and then looking in to her eyes. I reached a finger up and gently brushed it along the curve of her soft lips and Naomi kissed my fingertip softly. I leant down and kissed her cheeks, her nose, her eyelids and then moved so that my mouth was next to her ear. I nibbled on her earlobe for a moment, before whispering extremely quietly in her ear.

"I love you."

"I know," Naomi said, trying to pull my lips to hers. "I love you, too, but please… I need you now."

I resisted, and tongued her ear for a moment, causing her to shudder. I tugged gently on her tragus piercing with my teeth. "Patience, Naoms. Let me show you how much I love you."

I gently rolled her over so that she was lying on her stomach. I straddled her so that I was sitting on her bum and massaged her shoulders for a few minutes, getting out all the knots so that she was fully relaxed. Once she was relaxed, I leant forward and kissed her on the soft skin on the back of her neck, before working my way down and placing kisses all over her shoulders and upper back. I scratched my nails softly over her lower back before tracing the words, _Emily loves__ Naomi_.

I heard Naomi let out a little laugh. "I love you, too, Emsy."

I smiled, moved up and pecked her quickly on the cheek and then moved back down and kissed over where I had just traced the words. I moved down further and kissed over the curve of her bum and her upper thighs. I traced little circles with the tip of my tongue down her thighs, and kissed the backs of her knees.

Naomi was shaking in anticipation of what was to come soon and I knew that neither one of us would be able to wait much longer now. I licked down her calves and kissed both her feet.

She rolled herself over so that she was on her back once again and I gasped when I saw how dark her eyes were. She propped herself up on her elbows and spread her legs wide for me.

"Please?" She said. There was no way I could hold out any longer. I leant forward and stuck my tongue deep inside her, causing her to let out a loud moan and collapse back down, her head resting on the sleeping bags. She gripped tight to the blankets and I continued to plunge my tongue inside her. After a few minutes of this, I could feel that Naomi was getting close already, so I moved my tongue up to her clit and sucked on it, while pushing three fingers inside her vagina and curving them up to hit her g-spot.

She let out a small scream and she thrust her hips up in to my face. I wrapped my free arm around one of her thighs, holding her as steady as I could, but her hips had a mind of their own. She gyrated against my face as I continued to bring her closer to her orgasm. Every time I felt her getting close, I slowed down my thrusting fingers and exchanged my sucking, for long strokes of my tongue, bringing her back down slightly. After doing this four times, Naomi was screaming out my name and begging me to let her come.

As I brought her close again, she grabbed my hair and held me close to her as hard as she could, determined not to let me back off again. I had no intentions of stopping this time though, and I sucked harder and curled my fingers faster and harder inside her. I felt her walls close in around my fingers and her clit pulsing against my tongue. Her whole body stiffened for a moment, before she began shaking and convulsing, harder than I had ever seen, as her orgasm ripped through her body. She had her eyes squeezed closed, her hands fisted. It was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. I kept her up on her high for a long time, not letting her down until she had come three times. When her body finally relaxed, she collapsed once again on to the sleeping bags. I kissed my way up her body and snuggled in next to her, knowing that she was too spent to repay the favour. I unzipped a sleeping bag and pulled it over our naked bodies, knowing that the heat we had made would not be enough to keep us warm for the whole night.

Naomi pulled my face to hers and kissed me over and over again on my lips. Quick, soft kisses that conveyed what she was feeling just as well as any other kiss we had ever shared. She tried to roll us over, intending to repay me, but her tired body didn't get her very far.

"Lets just sleep, Babe." I whispered in her ear.

"Don't you want a shot?"

"Yes, but you're too tired to be able to do a very good job now." I said, winking at her. "You can do me later instead."

Naomi smiled and pulled me close to her, wrapping her arms around me. I rested my head down on her chest and we both drifted off in to a comfortable sleep.

* * *

**Cook:**

My chat with Naomi had basically convinced me to go for it with Katie. I'd already lost one girl I loved, I didn't want to miss out on another just because I was too chicken to tell her how I felt.

I messaged Naomi in the afternoon asking if her and Emily could go out for a while so that Katie and I could have the house to ourselves. Not that I was hoping anything would happen, I just wanted to be able to talk to her in privacy. And I messaged Katie telling her not to make anything for our dinner and that I would pick up a pizza or something on my way home.

So I got back to the house, pizza in one hand, 6-pack of beer in the other. I saw Katie sitting in the lounge room so I walked in, put the pizza down on the coffee table and sat down next to her. We ate the pizza and had a beer each, chatting about how our days had been.

We finished the pizza and I opened another beer for us each. 'Time to bite the bullet,' I thought, 'it's only going to get harder the longer you leave it.'

I took a deep breath. "Katie, there's something I need to tell you." I said quickly, at the exact same moment as Katie said "Cook, I need to talk to you about something."

We turned to look at each other, grins cracking both our faces as the tension broke.

"Sorry," I said, "Would you like to go first?"

"No, no. You go." Katie said.

"Okay…" I took another deep breath and looked down at my lap. I didn't know it was possible to be this nervous. "Well, it's just… Fuck, I don't know how to say this…"

Katie took my hand and held it in both of hers. "Cook, it's me. Whatever it is, you can say it."

I looked up in to her eyes, the dark brown orbs calming me somewhat. "Right. Well the thing is… Lately I have noticed that… That I kind of have feeling for you…" I said lamely, inwardly cursing myself for not thinking of a better way to say it.

Katie's eyes widened in shock. I was about to tell her that it was okay that she didn't feel the same way and that we could just stay friends, when she broke in to a huge grin. Now it was my turn to be shocked. Even though Naomi had told me that Katie liked me, I had been preparing myself all afternoon to be shot down. So when Katie smiled and lent forward and placed a delicate kiss on my cheek, I was pleasantly surprised.

"I like you, too, Cook." Katie told me when she pulled away.

I smiled at hearing those words. "So what does this mean then?" I asked, unsure of where we went form here.

"I don't know. What do you want it to mean?"

I thought for a moment. "I want… I want us to be together." I said, praying to any god that might be out there that that was what Katie wanted too.

"I want that too." Katie said. "But I don't… I just…" Katie sighed, clearly not sure how to say what she was thinking. I squeezed her hand gently, letting her know that she could tell me. "I don't want to just be a random shag for you, or someone you date for a month and then ditch as soon as a better offer comes along."

I put my finger under Katie chin and turned her face to look at me. "Katie, you could never be that for me. I care about you way too much for you to just be a random shag. And I don't think there could ever be a better offer than you."

Katie just let out a little disbelieving laugh. "Katie, I'm serious. You are perfect to me. If we do this… If we decide to be together, then I'm in it for the long haul."

Katie smiled at me. "Really?"

"Really." I assured her.

My eyes darted down to her lips and I saw hers do the same to me. I leant toward her slightly, and she moved forward too. We kept moving closer until our faces were almost touching. I could feel Katie's hot breath on my lips, my own breathing growing ragged in anticipation. I glanced up at Katie's eyes to check that she was okay. She gave a tiny nod, and I moved forward slightly more so that our lips were just touching lightly. My eyes closed and I leant forward the rest of the way, capturing Katie's lips in my own, holding them together for a second, before pulling away again, just enough to look at Katie.

She smiled at me and placed her hand on my neck, pulling me in again. Our lips met again, and I felt Katie's breath enter my mouth as I parted my lips slightly. We kissed for a moment and I felt Katie's tongue brush against my lip, asking for entrance. I opened my mouth and felt her tongue enter. Our tongues danced for a moment, before I slowly pulled away.

Katie looked slightly confused as to why I had ended the beautiful kissing so I thought I better explain. "I don't want to rush things." I told her. "I want to do this right."

"And what is right in this situation?" She asked, "I've never been friends with someone first…"

I thought for a moment. I was pretty new to this as well. "I think we should take things slow." I told her. "I don't want to mess this up by going too fast."

Katie nodded.

"Would you like to go out for dinner with me tomorrow night?" I asked her.

"Like a date?" Katie asked, smiling up at me.

I nodded. "Like a date. I mean it, I want to do this right."

"I'd love to."

I grinned at her, excited at the prospect of taking a girl out on a date. Normally I just met a girl out somewhere and fucked her; I never actually took them out on dates. "Excellent. I'll pick you up at seven then." I told her.

"Cook, you live here…" She said, confused.

"Hey, hey, hey, c'mon now. Don't ruin it. Like I said, I'm doing it properly, which means I will be picking you up here at seven, like a perfect gentleman."

Katie smiled. "Okay. I'm looking forward to it."

We sat quietly for a moment, holding hands. It took me a few minutes to remember that Katie had wanted to talk to me about something.

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about earlier?" I asked her

"Huh?"

"Earlier, just after dinner, you said you wanted to talk to me about something…"

"Oh yeah. No, actually, I was just going to say pretty much what you said to me. But you saved me from having to do it."

I laughed quietly. Katie and me really were on the same wavelength. That's why I was so confident it would work with me and her.

We sat a while longer before Katie got up and walked in to the kitchen, coming back a moment later with two bowls of ice cream. She passed one to me and put on a DVD and settled in beside me to watch it.

Katie fell asleep toward the end of the movie, cuddled up against me, her fingers tickling my stomach lightly in her sleep. As hard as I tried to ignore it, I couldn't tear my mind away from those beautiful fingers tracing gently and as hard as I tried to resist it, I couldn't help myself getting slightly turned on. The movie finished and decided to wake Katie up.

"Katie, the movie's finished." I whispered in her ear.

"Huh?" Katie, said, raising her head from where it lay on my head and glancing up to the blank screen of the TV. "Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"That's fine. It's late."

"Yeah. I'm going to go to bed. Are you coming?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Um, I think I might sleep down here tonight."

Katie raised an eyebrow at me. "How come?"

"Well, it's just… Like I said, I want to do this right, and if I sleep in our bed… I'm not sure that I will be able to help myself."

Katie let out embarrassed smile. "I'd offer to sleep in Emily and Naomi's room so that you could have our room, but they were fucking all afternoon and that's kind of gross…"

I laughed at the disgusted look on her face.

"You can have our room, if you like. I can take the couch." Katie said.

"No, it's fine. I'll sleep down here. I'll see you tomorrow." I said, leaning in and placing a soft, lingering kiss on her lips, pulling away before she had a chance to deepen it.

Katie disappeared upstairs and I stripped down to my underwear, settling back down on the couch, using one of the sofa cushions as a pillow and covering myself with the blanket that always lies over the back of the lounge.

I stayed awake for a long time, thinking about how well the night went – definitely better than I ever imagined it would – and about what to plan for our date the next night. It wasn't until I had every minute of the next night planned out that I was finally able to drift off to sleep.

I got up the next morning and left the house before Katie had even woken up. I had a few things I had to organise before our date.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed, leave a review if you can :)**

**Also... I have been working on a Naomily AU fic but I can't decide whether to write it in first or third person... Do people have a preference?**


	17. Chapter 17

**I just edited this whole chapter and when I clicked save, it decided to tell that I wasn't logged in. So now I have to do it again, but I'm kinda sick of it, so sorry if I do a slacl job and leave in some mistakes.**

**Sorry it took longer to update than I said it would. I ended up going to the country for a bit and had no internet out there.**

**Thanks to all those that review, especially _nancyfitch, Cressie_ and _Fr3nzzy, _who all review regularly_. _Your reviews are very much appreciated.**

* * *

**Chapter 17**

**Naomi:**

Last night at the lake had been amazing. When I first thought about spending the night at the lake, I had been hoping to recreate a bit of what Emily and I had in Goa. And we definitely did. It wasn't that we weren't passionate when we were at home, but we had to be a bit more careful with Katie and Cook around. And the lake has always been special and evoked a lot of passion in us, and last night was no exception. It had been beautiful.

I woke up to the sounds of birds in the trees around us. Most mornings I hate hearing the birds. But out here it seemed right. I rolled to my side and looked at my girl. She was lying on her back, fast asleep. Her face was tilted toward me, her mouth slightly open, breathing deeply. Her red hair was spread out over a little camping pillow. The sleeping bag covered up her up to the waist, exposing her naked breasts, which rose and fell with every breath she took. She was absolutely beautiful. There aren't even any words that describe how perfect she looked, lying there, her face lit up by a thin beam of sunlight that was streaming in through the roof of the tent.

I must have watched Emily sleeping for at least an hour before she woke up.

"You know, it's creepy when you watch me sleep, Naoms." She said, noticing that I was staring at her.

"Sorry. You're just too beautiful not to stare at."

Emily smiled and pulled me toward her and into a perfect kiss.

We spent the rest of the morning making love, swimming in the lake and eating the snacks we had brought with us. It wasn't until midday that I actually checked my phone to see if anyone had been trying to contact us.

"I have a message from Cook." I called to Emily, who was floating, naked, on her back in the lake.

"And…?"

"He says, _'Hey Blondie, don't mean to interrupt you and Red, but I have a date with Katie tonight and I need your help with a few things. Meet me and Gina and Kieran's when you have finished doing whatever you're doing in Emilio's knickers.'_" I read to Emily.

"Charming." Said Emily, swimming to the edge of the lake and climbing out. "I guess we better head off then."

"Yeah, I guess so. He sent it a couple of hours ago."

Emily dried off and got dressed as I started packing up our things. We threw the tent and all our other crap in the boot of Kieran's shitty car and drove back to Mum and Kieran's house. Why Cook wanted to meet us there, I had no idea. So we got to my parent's house and walked inside, dumping Kieran's tent in the garage.

"About fucking time." Cook said, jumping up from his seat in the kitchen as we entered.

"Sorry, we only just got your message. We came straight away."

"Right, fine, well let's get to action then." He said, walking to the front door.

"Hold up." Emily said, pulling him back by the back of his shirt. "Wanna fill us in on what's going on?"

Cook mumbled something about running out of time but retook his place at the kitchen table. Emily and I took a seat and Mum busied herself making cups of tea.

"So me and Katie had a chat last night, and we are going to give it a go with us."

Emily let out a little excited squeal, which caused all of us to look at her. Emily cleared her throat, looking slightly embarrassed at her reaction. "Sorry. Continue." She said, calmly. I smiled at her cuteness and rubbed her thigh under the table. She took my hand and held it, as I rested it on her leg.

"Anyway… I'm taking Katie on a date tonight-"

"Where are you taking her?" Emily interrupted.

"Chill out, Red, I'm getting there."

"Right, sorry. Again."

"I'm taking her out to a restaurant for dinner and then I'm taking her to this place that I like… It's kind of special to me."

"Sounds romantic. I think she'll like it." I said, knowing from experience that going to someone's special place is a good way to spend time with your girlfriend.

"Yeah. So Kieran said I could borrow his junk-wagon to pick her up and drive us around… And I was kind of wondering if you would help me with setting up the second half of the date?"

"Yeah, we'd be happy to help." Emily answered for both of us, even though Cook had really been aiming his question at me. I smiled at my girlfriend's eagerness to assist in her sister and friend's relationship as much as she can.

"Okay… Well basically, when Katie and me are at dinner, I need you to go and set up a bit of a picnic thing at the place. I'll take you there later so you will know how to get there. I'll buy everything you'll need for it, I just need to you to set it up because it'll be to early if I do it before dinner." Cook explained to us.

We finished off our cups of tea and left Mum and Kieran's place. Emily drove back home on her scooter while Cook dragged me around to help him with his stuff.

We cleaned up Kieran's car, outside and inside, and then went to the shops. Cook said he needed to get a new outfit for the date because all his clothes 'looked like they hadn't been washed since his Grandpa wore them back in 1946'… Or so Katie had apparently once told him. Cook said that he wanted something presentable, but that was also comfortable and suited him. 'Shouldn't be too hard,' I thought. 'Probably will only take half an hour or so.'

Oh, how wrong I was. Cook was ridiculously picky. So two and a half hours and nine different shops later, I had finally convinced him to buy a pair of gray trousers and a simple button up shirt, which could be dressed up with the good trousers, or dressed down with jeans.

"So now I just need to get some new jeans then." Cook said, after he had purchased his items.

"You don't need those now though, do you?" I asked.

"Yeah." Cook said, as though it was obvious.

"Fucksake, lets just get it over and done with quick then, yeah? We still have to buy all the other stuff, and you need to take me to the place, and then drop me home and then you need to go back to Mum's place to take a shower and get ready."

"Fuck, we're running out of time. Okay, we'll be quick, I promise."

Another half hour later and Cook had finally decided on a pair of jeans. We rushed through the rest of the shopping getting everything that I would need to set up Cook's surprise for Katie.

Cook drove us for a while around some of the back streets of Bristol that I didn't recognise. He stopped outside a rundown house and we hopped out of the car.

"That was the house I grew up in." Cook told me, pointing to old house. The garden was overgrown, with weeds everywhere. One of the shutters was hanging off the window by one hinge. It had a smashed window and the paint was wearing off. "Didn't look that bad when I lived there though."

"This is where you're bringing her?" I asked Cook, thinking it might not end up being the romantic night I originally thought it would be.

"Nope. I'm taking her there." Cook said, pointing to the playground across the street.

"You're taking her to a playground?"

"No, past the playground. Through those trees."

Well that was slightly better then.

After Cook showed me his place and explained to me how to set it up, he dropped me back home, and then set off straight away to go back to Mum and Kieran's place where he was planning on getting ready for his date.

I walked inside the house and found Emily in the kitchen. "She so fucking nervous." Emily told me as walked in. "It's quite cute. I've never seen her so nervous or excited about a date before."

I laughed.

"Seriously. She made me take her shopping so she could get some new clothes. And then she decided that she didn't want to wear the clothes she bought, so she made me go through every piece of clothing she owns to see if she has something better."

"Cook is the same. We spent three hours buying him a new outfit for tonight. Where is Katie now?" I asked.

"She's upstairs doing her hair."

* * *

**Katie:**

I woke up to find the house empty. I knew Emily and Naomi would probably still be at the lake, but it was a Saturday, which meant Cook didn't have work, so there was no reason for him not to be home.

I was quite disappointed when I came downstairs and found the sofa empty. I had planned to cook breakfast for us and then spend the day with Cook, before getting ready for our date tonight, but I guess that wasn't going to happen.

I spent the whole morning at home by myself, getting more and more nervous by the minute, wondering where the fuck everyone was and just waiting for someone to come home and keep me company. I passed the time by going though all my clothes trying to decide what to wear tonight. It was hard when I had no idea where Cook would be taking me.

Finally I heard Emily's scooter pull up out the front of the house and I ran downstairs to meet her. "Don't put your stuff down, we're going shopping." I told her, practically dragging her back out the front door before she had a chance to say anything.

I spent an hour or so at the shops with Emily, finding the perfect outfit. She knew what Cook had planned for me, so she knew what would be appropriate.

When we got back home, Emily insisted I take a bath to try and relax myself, which I did. It worked a bit. But by the time I got out it was time to start getting ready and the nerves came back. I pulled out the clothes I had bought. Suddenly they didn't seem so perfect. I called Emily upstairs and showed her all my other clothes, asking her what she thought. Her answer was the same to very article of clothing I showed her, "Just wear what you bought today." After I had been through my entire wardrobe, and hers and Naomi's (not that I would ever wear anything of Naomi's, but I had to check… You know, just to be sure), I finally decided that I would, in fact, where the clothes that I had purchased earlier.

So I did my hair and makeup and got dressed in my new skirt and top. I put on my favourite pair of heels and found a little jacket to take with me, just in case it got cold.

I was just putting on my jewelry when there was a knock on the door.

"Katie, door!" I heard Naomi call up the stairs.

"Get it yourself, you lazy bugger, I'm still getting ready."

"It's your date." Emily said, poking her head inside my room. "Wow. You like nice." She said when she saw me.

"Thanks," I said, pushing past her and going downstairs, not sure why Cook was knocking on the door instead of just coming inside. It was his house too, after all.

I opened the front door and saw Cook standing before me. He was dressed in trousers and a good shirt, a beautiful bunch of red roses in his hand. He smiled when I opened the door and I saw his eyes bug our slightly as he looked me up and down. I'm not going to lie – I did look fucking mint.

Cook took a small step forward and placed a soft kiss on my cheek. "You look beautiful Katie." He told me. He passed me the flowers. "These are for you."

I thanked him and he followed me in to the kitchen so I could put the flowers in water. He then took my hand and led me back through the house to the front door. I poked my head in to the lounge room on the way past to say goodbye to Emily and Naomi. "Bye ladies." Cook said to them. "I'll have her back by midnight." He joked.

We walked down the front steps and he opened the passenger side door of Kieran's car, which I had never seen so clean. I climbed in and he closed the door for me, walked around to the driver's side and we set off down the street. We drove for about 15 minutes before Cook pulled up on the side of the street and rushed around the car, opening my door for me and taking my hand to help me out.

We walked up the road, hand in hand, until we reached a restaurant that I knew had only just opened a few weeks before and was said to have amazing food, and an amazingly pricey menu.

"Cook, we can't go here, it's too expensive." I said, as he led me to the door.

"Don't worry about it." Cook told me, "Tonight is my treat."

We walked inside and a waiter in a tux showed us to our seats and passed us a menu each. I opened mine and gasped when I saw the prices. "Cook, no way, this is way too much." I told him. "We should just go somewhere cheaper."

"No, Katie, it's fine. Seriously. Order whatever you want."

We made our way through our delicious meals. It was probably the best dinner date I had ever been on. The conversation flowed easily. It didn't feel like a first date. There was none of the awkwardness of trying to think of things say like there normally is on first dates. But it didn't just feel like we were two friends out for dinner either. Cook was being very chivalrous. He held my hand, he opened doors, and he paid for the meals.

Once we had finished dinner, Cook led me back to the car. He refused to tell me where he was taking me. He just said that he had a surprise for me.

He pulled up in and old street and got out of the car. Cook took a look at the house in front of us, and I remember wondering why he would want to bring me to daggy old house, but instead, he took my hand and led me to the playground across the street. He stopped in front of a park bench, and opened a bag that was sitting on it, ignoring my questions of what the fuck was going on.

Cook pulled a pair of my own jeans, my own t-shirt and my own hoodie out of the bag and passed them to me.

"Cook, would you just tell me what's going on please?"

"No, I want it to be a surprise. But what you're wearing now won't be very comfortable, so you need to change in to this. You can change in the car if you'd like." He told me.

I looked around. It was pretty much pitch black and I couldn't see anyone around, so I decided I might as well just change there. I kicked off my shoes and pulled the jeans up legs and then removed my skirt, passing it to Cook who folded it and put it back in the bag, before he, too, replaced his good shirt for a t-shirt and his good trousers for jeans. I quickly pulled off my new top and pulled the t-shirt over my head and then the hoodie. I sat down on the bench and pulled on some socks and my little white sneakers that Cook passed me, while he packed all of our clothes back in the bag and pulled on his own Nike Hi-tops.

Once we were all changed, Cook began to lead me toward a forest that was behind the playground. It was sort of creepy and I tightened my hold on his hand. We walked along a dark, dirt path for about 15 minutes, me bugging Cook the whole time about where he was taking me.

I walked with my eyes to the ground the whole time, trying to make sure I didn't trip over anything. When the dirt path suddenly disappeared beneath my feet, I looked up. We were standing at the entrance to a clearing. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't tiny either.

I looked around the clearing and saw that there were candles in a circle, all along the border of the clearing. In the middle there was a picnic rug set out on the ground. There was a picnic basket next to it.

"Cook, it's beautiful." I said, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him in to a hug. He wrapped his arms around my waist and we stood like that for a minute, before I pulled back and looked in his eyes. "Thank you for tonight." I said, "It's been so great." I kissed him lightly on the lips and felt Cook smile in to the kiss.

"It's not ever yet, love." He said.

He led me over to the blanket and we sat down. He pulled out two champagne glasses and a bottle of champagne. I let out a little laugh when I saw that it was non-alcoholic.

"Sorry, I have to drive." He explained, pouring a glass and passing it to me before pouring one for himself. He put the bottle to the side and emptied the rest of the basket. He had chocolate-dipped strawberries and fancy cupcakes… I'm pretty sure he bought them from a shop, there is no way his cake decorating skills are that amazing… They were chocolate mud cake with runny caramel in the centre. It had chocolate icing and white chocolate love hearts piped on to them. It was, without a doubt, the best cupcake I have ever had.

So we sat on the blanket eating our cakes and strawberries and the other assortment of snacks that Cook had pulled out of the basket, and sipping on our "champagne".

Once we had eaten as much as we could, Cook lay back on the blanket. He took my hand and I lay down next to him. I gasped when I looked at the sky. It was beautiful. There were thousands of stars above us, each of them shining brighter than any other star I have ever seen. We lay next to each other for quite a long time, fingers laced together, looking at the stars above us.

"I grew up in that house back there." Cook told me. I knew which one he meant. The one he looked at when we got out of the car.

"Freddie and JJ used to stay over there almost every Friday night when we were in primary school. They knew how much I hated it at home, but we didn't like staying at JJ's because his Mum was so uptight and Freddie's Mum wasn't very well and Karen was annoying, so they used to come here. And whenever they did, we used to wait till my Mum went to bed and then we would sneak out here. For a long time we used to just sit on the playground, but then one night me and Freds decided that we should go exploring and we found this clearing. We ended up staying out here until sunrise. And from then on we used to come here every week and just lie here, looking at the stars. This is how JJ developed his interest in space, by looking up at the stars.

"When my Mum got rich, she moved us out of that house and in to the house where she lives now. And then it was too far away for me, Freddie and JJ to come out here. So we just stopped coming. I don't think either of them have been back since we were kids. But I still come quite often. I used to come whenever Mum was in a shitty mood with me, which was quite often. When I came here, the rest of the world just kinda stopped. This is where I could be myself. There was no one else here to show off for or act cool for. I could come here and just relax and think about whatever I wanted."

I wasn't sure if Cook was going to keep talking or not, so I stayed quiet for a moment until I was sure he was finished. I turned my head to look at him and he looked at me.

"Thank you for sharing it with me." I said. I moved closer and kissed him lightly. I went to pull away, but he wrapped his arm around my back and held me close to him, deepening our kiss.

"I wouldn't want to share it with anyone but you, Katie."

I smiled at him and he smiled back, his eyes lighting up. I twisted my body around so that I was lying on my stomach, propped up on my elbows. I moved forward to kiss him again and he pulled me closer to him so that my top half was on top of him. We lay like that for a long time, just kissing each other. It wasn't sexual, but it was definitely passionate. It was just us telling each other how we felt about each other. It was us thanking each other, simply for being a part of each other's lives. It was every good thing I have ever felt about him, communicated through a kiss. It was perfect.

We finally pulled apart and I rested my head down on his chest. Cook grabbed his jacket that was lying on the ground next to us and draped it over my shoulders to keep us warm. We lay, cuddled together, talking for a long time, about anything and everything. Our families, our friends, our hopes for the future, our childhoods. Every single thing that we had missed out on sharing with each other.

We must have drifted off at some stage because I was suddenly jerked awake by Cook's phone ringing loudly on his pocket. He reached under me and pulled it out and checked his new message. "It's from Naoms." He told me. "She says Emily is going crazy wondering where we are. Apparently she has been trying to call you."

"I left my phone in my bag in the car." I said, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

I looked around the clearing. It looked very different in the daylight. All the candles had been extinguished by the wind the night before and, obviously, we could no longer see the stars. The early morning sun was shining through the tall trees, casting long shadows on the ground. It really was a beautiful place.

"I guess we better head off." Cook said, standing up. "I promised Naomi and Emily I would have you home by midnight and it's now…" he checked his watch, "8:17"

We gathered all the candles and placed them, as well as our champagne glasses and bottle and our rubbish in the picnic basket. Cook folded the blanket and put it under one arm, picked up the basket in one hand and our bag of clothes in the other hand and started walking back to the path. I took the picnic basket out of his hand and carried it myself so that we would both have a free hand. I took his hand as we started down the dirt path back to the car and he immediately intertwined our fingers, swinging our hands slightly as we walked.

We got back to the car and he chucked all our stuff in the boot and opened my door for me. We drove back home and he pulled up out the front of the house. He emptied the boot and put all our stuff on the path that ran along the front of the house.

"I have to take Kieran's car back, so I'll be back soon." Cook, turning around to get back in the car. I grabbed his hand and pulled him back to me. I wrapped one arm around his neck, rested my other hand on his hip and kissed him. He kissed me back for a moment before wrapping his strong arms around me and holding me tight to him in a perfect hug.

"Thank you for a great date." I said we he finally released me.

"Thank you for letting me take you out." He said.

"Anytime."

We kissed once more before he got back in the car and drove off, me watching until he rounded the corner. I gathered up all of our stuff and walked back in to the house to where I knew Emily and Naomi would be waiting to here all about our night.

* * *

**Hope you thought Cook & Katie's date was okay. I struggled with this chapter a lot and I'm still not entirely happy with how it turned out. **

**I'm a little bit stuck with this story, so I'm not entirely sure where to go with the next chapter, but I'll try to have something up in the next couple of days.**


	18. Chapter 18

**So here's the next chapter... This one is for _lumagoo1015,_ for taking the time to read this and for bumping up the amount of reviews I have by a considerable amount. It's very much appreciated buddy. Hope you like it :)**

* * *

**Chapter 18**

**Katie:**

"Thanks for dinner love, that was great." Cook said, standing up from the table and clearing our plates.

It had been two weeks since our first date and things were going amazingly well. We had gone out for dinner a few of times, Cook had taken me to see a movie, and we had been back to Cook's clearing twice. We spent pretty much every spare moment together. We still saw Effy and Freddie often, and obviously we saw Emily and Naomi all the time, but except for when Cook was at work, we were pretty much always at each other's side.

We hadn't had sex yet. I knew he wanted to. Fuck, I wanted to as well. But we both decided that we wanted to take things slow and make sure that we were absolutely ready before we took the next step. So we settled for a make out session, followed by cuddling every night before we went to sleep. It was nice. It was nice to take things slow and just feel everything, all the emotions, without turning it in to something physical. Christ, it was hard sometimes though. I don't know how Cook managed to pull away when things started going too far. I definitely didn't have that much self-control.

Cook turned on the taps and started filling the sink with warm water to do the dishes. I walked up behind him and hugged him from the back.

"Leave for now." I told him, "I'll do them later."

Em and Naomi had gone to the lake for the night again, and I wanted to have a nice night with my boyfriend, not spend my evening doing dishes and cleaning the house.

Cook turned around in my arms and kissed me. It was light, but passionate. I found myself getting turned on from that one simple kiss. What, I hadn't had sex in over a month, I was fucking horny okay?

The kiss ended and we stood with our foreheads together, looking in to each other's eyes. "What do you want to do tonight then?" Cook asked me.

I pulled my lower lip in to my mouth. I was fucking nervous all of a sudden. I knew that this was what I wanted, I just wasn't sure what the best way to go about it was.

Cook seemed to know what I was thinking and he smiled a small, encouraging smile. He brushed a few strands of hair out of my face and pulled me in to another kiss.

With Cook's encouragement, my confidence began to return. I kissed him back, reaching my hands down and un-tucking his work shirt from his trousers.

We stood in the kitchen kissing for a long time, until Cook began to walk me backwards, out of the kitchen and up the stairs, still kissing. When we got to our room, we began to slowly undress each other, until we both stood before each other naked. We both took a step forward, meeting halfway, and embraced each other. I rested my head against Cook's chest and he buried his face in my hair. We stood like that for a moment, running our hands over the other's naked back, appreciating the feel of our naked bodies together. I could feel Cook's hot breath on my neck and I turned my head slightly to place small kisses on his chest.

He guided me to the mattress and we sat down, kissing on the lips once again. Cook pushed me backwards so that he was lying on top of me.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Cook asked.

I nodded. "I'm sure."

We made love, slowly and beautifully. It wasn't rushed or hasty. It was the perfect portrayal of our feelings for each other. We hadn't actually said the words, 'I love you' to each other yet, but I knew that I definitely did love him, and I was pretty sure he loved me, too.

Hours later, we lay together on our mattress, just holding each other. I had never had a night as passionate as the one I had just had with Cook. I felt Cook pull away and prop himself up on his elbows, so that he was lying on his stomach looking at me. I reached over and gently traced the cross tattoo on his side. I love that tattoo. It's really fucking hot. He reached one hand up and gently brushed the back of his fingers against my cheek, ran a finger over my still tingling lips and tapped me lightly on the nose. I grinned at him. I don't think I could ever get sick of his touch. I took his hand and kissed his knuckles.

"Katie?" He said

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

I looked in his eyes and smiled. I was about to say those three beautiful words back when Cook continued.

"I don't expect you to say it back, and I don't want you to say until you really mean it… If you ever do, that is…" He started rambling, "But I really do love you, and I just want you to know that. I love you so much. I love everything about you-"

"Cook?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up for a minute, yeah?" I said, pulling him toward me and kissing him hard on the mouth. We broke apart after a minute, both slightly breathless.

"I love you, too."

Cook broke in to a huge grin. That grin that lights up his eyes and put those cute little dimples in his cheeks.

I chuckled at how adorable he looked. I often forget that this is the same James Cook that was such a tosser in college; that this is the guy that flashed his dick to half the college on our first day at Roundview. I forget that he is the guy that scared the shit out of everyone when he showed up on our camping trip and that fucked Panda behind Thomas' back, screwed over Freddie to get to Effy and spent most of last year in jail for beating a guy up and supposedly dealing drugs to Sophia. That guy seemed like a distant memory now. He had changed so much. He was so considerate and mature. I mean, he still definitely had his immature moments; he still drank alcohol like it was the last beverage he would ever have. He still smoked like a chimney, he still mucked around with his mates like he was still 15 years old. But I knew he only did all that for some fun now. It wasn't to show off, or act cool, or for an escape. I knew he really did care about me and his other friends. And I knew that when it came down to it, he would always pick the people he cared about over all that other stuff.

I was woken by someone thundering up the stairs and calling my name loudly.

"Katie, Effy called, she was wondering if-"

Cook scrambled to grab the tangled blankets that lay on the end of the mattress, but Naomi came bursting in to the room before he was able to cover us completely.

"Jesus Christ!" She said, spinning around so that she had her back to us. Cook managed to untangle the sheets and cover our naked bodies.

"Sorry Naoms, you can look now." I told her.

"No, I'm good. I'm pretty sure I will never be able to look at either of you the same away again. Anyway, sorry for interrupting, I just came in to say that Effy called Emily. She said she had been trying to call you all morning but you weren't answering your phone. It's pretty clear now why not, but the point is that we're all going out tonight. We're meeting at Freddie's for dinner and drinks at six and it's just gone three, so get your lazy arses out of bed, yeah?"

Naomi left the room and closed the door behind her. I looked at Cook, who had an amused look on his face and leant in to give him a kiss, when the door suddenly flung open again. Naomi popped her head inside, her eyes tightly closed.

"And next time sleep with some blankets on." She said, leaving the room once again.

An hour later, and I had finally dragged myself of out bed and to the shower. I walked downstairs to find Emily and Naomi sitting at the kitchen table. I knew they would bug me about what happened last night with me and Cook, so I grabbed a glass of water and turned to leave straight away, in order to avoid their interrogation.

"Stop." I heard Emily's voice as I reached the door. I stopped.

"Turn." Said Naomi. I turned.

Emily pushed a chair back with her foot. "Sit."

I walked over to the table and sat down. They stared at me for a moment.

"Okay, get it over with then." I said.

"So you and Cook hey?" Emily said.

"Emily, we've been going out for two weeks, don't act like it's new." I said.

"Yeah, but you two sleeping together is new… Right?"

"Yeah…"

"So how did it happen?" Naomi asked.

I just looked at her. "Why are you so interested?"

"I'm not _that_ interested, I just want to know how it happened."

"It just happened."

"Yes, but _how_ did it happen? C'mon Katie, give us some details." Naomi said.

"But not _too_ many details." Emily said.

"There's not that much to say… We had dinner and then one thing led to another… That's it."

"Oh, c'mon Katie, you've got to give us a bit more than that!" Naomi said. I was starting to get weirded out by how interested she was.

"What else do you want me to tell you about? His size? His technique? How many times we-"

"Wooaah! I said not too many details!" Emily interrupted.

"What? She said she wanted to know." I said, nodding my head at Naomi.

"I don't want to know that kind of stuff!" Naomi said, a disgusted look on her face.

"Whatever lezza." I said standing up. "Next time don't keep bugging me for details and you won't have to hear those things."

"Don't worry, I won't be making this mistake again." Naomi said as I walked to the door. "You have taught me two very great lessons today, Katiekins. One: Always knock before walking in to a room. Two: Never bug Katie for details unless you are prepared to be traumatised for life."

A few hours later we were at Freddie's, eating pizza and downing shots of whatever Freddie had stashed in his shed. Everyone was already considerably tipsy, except for Cook, who takes more than a few shots to get tipsy, and JJ and Lara who, as per usual, were not drinking much.

Effy came and sat down on the sofa next to me and linked her arm through mine. She followed my gaze to where I was watching Cook having a competition with Freddie and Naomi to see who could flick a bottle cap the furthest. Whoever lost was supposed to down a shot of whatever the winner chose, but they all seemed to be drinking every time, regardless of who won and lost.

"He's a good fuck, isn't he?" Effy said.

My eyes shot to hers in shock. Partly because I was surprised at what she said, but also because I didn't realise that she knew that me and Cook had had sex.

"How did you know?"

"What, that he's a good fuck or that you slept together?" Effy teased. I just laughed, knowing that she knew what I was asking. "Naomi told me."

"Typical." I said, "That girl is _way_ too interested in this relationship."

"She just excited for you, that's all."

"Yeah, but it's weird."

"Not really. Cook is her best friend, and you're her girlfriend's twin sister. She pretty much sees you as her own sister."

"She does?" I asked, surprised, but also touched. I knew that we got along well now, and I would definitely consider her one of my closest friends (it's hard not to when you live together), but I didn't realise that she felt the same way about me.

"Yep. But that's not the point. How was it with Cook?"

"It was lovely." I said.

"That sounded convincing." She said. I let out a little laugh, remembering the time I had said that to her, that time at the canal.

"Well, even though you tried to tell me otherwise, I still think that some things _can_ be perfect, and last night was definitely one of those things."

Effy smiled. "Good. I'm glad."

Effy and me sat and talked for a while longer until Freddie came over and squeezed on to the sofa and sat on my other side.

"So, you and Cook, hey?" He said, lighting up what must have been his third or forth spliff for the night.

"And who told you?" I asked, taking the spliff he offered me, but passing it straight over to Effy.

"Naomi."

"Fucksake. Has she told everybody?"

"Nope. She didn't tell Lara." Freddie told me.

"Good."

"Emily beat her to it."

"Bloody hell. Those two really don't understand privacy."

"So do I need to have a chat with Cook about treating you right? You know… Let him know that if he hurts you in any way I'll kick his arse…"

Effy and I looked at Freddie for a moment before we both burst out laughing. "Thanks Freds, but that's okay. I don't think you would come out too well in a fight against Cook."

"What are you talking about?" Freddie said, "I could take him any day."

"I think that's the weed talking now." Effy said, plucking the spliff from between his lips and taking another drag.

A couple of hours later, we were all at our usual club. Me and Effy were standing at the bar waiting to get some drinks when JJ came up to me.

"Katie? I heard about you and Cook, and I just-"

"Naomi told you as well?" I interrupted.

"Um, no, Cook told me. I hope that's okay, I don't mean to invade your privacy, I just-"

"No, it's fine, JJ." I said, cutting him off before he could get locked on.

"Oh, okay, good. Well I just wanted to say that I know that Cook has been with a large number of girls, and I realise that, statistically speaking, it's unlikely that Cook would be able to continue sleeping with different girls without forming some kind of an emotional attachment to one of them, therefore-"

"JJ, what's your point?" I asked.

"Right, yes, I just wanted to say that of all the girls Cook has slept with, I'm very glad that you are the one he has formed said emotional attachment with."

"Thanks JJ." I said. JJ and I had never been that close, but I knew that he was one of Cook's best friends, so I was glad that I had his approval.

A while later I was on the dance floor, dancing with no one in particular, when I felt a pair of arms wrap around me from behind. I knew straight away that it was Cook. I could just tell from the way he held me, from his smell, from the way he nuzzled lightly on my bare shoulder. I was quite drunk and had taken a pill that Effy had offered me and I knew that Cook had definitely taken something as well.

"It's getting late babe. What do you say we head home before the rest so we can have a little bit of fun before Ems and Naomi get home?" He said winking.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Half three." Christ. Whatever Effy had given me was good. I thought it was only about midnight.

Cook and I went outside and called a taxi. We sat in the curb, Cook's arm around my shoulder while we waited for it to come.

"You guys waiting for a taxi?" Said a voice behind me. I turned my head to see Emily and Naomi taking a seat next to me. Damn.

"Yeah."

"Good, we'll share it with you then." Emily said.

I looked at Cook, disappointed that our plans were ruined. He seemed to be thinking the same thing as I was.

"Not that we wouldn't _love_ to share a cab with you ladies, but your sister and I are going to be having some _very_ loud sex when we get home, so you might want to stay out a little bit longer."

"No, that's fine, we will be doing the same thing." Naomi said, causing Emily to giggle. They were both ridiculously drunk. I sighed. Apparently Cook and I wouldn't be having the good time we had hoped for.

* * *

**Emily:**

The next couple of months passed by in a blur. Me and Naomi were ridiculously happy together, Katie and Cook were ridiculously happy together and everything just seemed to be perfect.

I got home one afternoon, after doing some grocery shopping, and went upstairs to find Katie vomiting in the toilet. I rushed over to her and pulled the hair out of her face and held it back while she chucked. Once she was done, I pulled off some toilet paper and passed it to her so she could wipe her mouth and filled the little plastic cup that always sits on the vanity with water and passed it to her.

"You alright?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just suddenly felt a bit nauseous, that's all."

"Okay. Do you want me to help you back to bed or something?"

"No, I'll be fine by myself. Thanks."

She went to stand up and immediately doubled over the toilet bowl and began chucking again. I pulled the hair tie out of my own hair and tied her back so that it was out of her face. I filled the cup again so that she could rinse her mouth.

"I'll be back in a sec, I'll just get you a bucket." I said.

I came back a couple of minutes later with an old ice-cream container, to find her sitting on the floor, sweating and shaking.

"Did you vomit again?" I asked her. She nodded. I passed her the bucket and began to run the bath. "C'mon, lets give you a bath, that'll make you feel better." I helped her stand up, holding the bucket ready in case she puked again. I helped her undress and climb in to the warm bath. I passed her a flannel and she wiped herself down, the colour slowly returning to her face.

"What do you think is wrong?" I asked her.

"Dunno."

"Do you want me to take you to the doctor?"

She shook her head.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. But every time I open my mouth I feel like I'm gonna chuck again, so I'd rather not speak."

"Oh. Sorry." I said.

I helped Katie climb out of the bath and wrapped a big fluffy towel around her. She sat down on the edge of the bath and I rubbed her back.

"You right to dry yourself off?" I asked her.

She nodded.

"Okay. I'll go get you some pyjamas, and then I'll help you back to bed."

I came back a minute later with the pink pyjamas she always wears when she is sick. I helped her get dressed and walked her back to her bedroom and helped her get in to bed.

I went downstairs to unpack the groceries I had bought, but found myself running up the stairs once more when I heard Katie being sick again. I found her kneeling in front of the toilet, tears running down her face.

"I'm calling the doctor." I said.

"No, Emily, I'll be fine. Can you just do me a favour? I got a message from Cook before but haven't been able to reply yet. Can you reply for me? Just tell him I'm not very well and I'll see him tonight."

"Well I'll message Cook for you, but I'm still calling the doctor. You've vomited like four times in the last half hour."

"Five times." Katie corrected me.

"Point proven. I'm calling the doctor." I helped Katie back to bed and went down to the kitchen, where the number for the doctor's clinic was stuck to the side of the fridge. I called them up and booked an appointment for later that day.

"Katie, I've made an appointment for you today at 4:45, okay?"

"How am I supposed to get there?" She asked me, "There's no way I'm going on your scooter."

"Gina and Kieran are coming over at four and staying for dinner. I'll borrow their car to take you."

"Okay. Have you messaged Cook?"

"No, I'll do it now."

I went back downstairs and found my phone and began to type a message.

**Hey Cook, Katie got your message, but she asked me to reply because she's not too well. I'm taking her to the doctors in a couple of hours. See you later tonight. Em**

I had only just put my phone down when the home phone started ringing. I picked it up and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Oh hey Cook. I just messaged you."

"I know, I just got it, I'm on my break. What's wrong with Katie?"

"She's been throwing up all afternoon, so I'm taking her to see the doctor."

"I'll talk to my boss and see if I can take the rest of the day off."

"No, Cook, there's no point in you missing a shift at work. I'm happy to take care of her."

"Yeah, but I'm her boyfriend. It should be me taking care of her."

"Cook, I don't think she'll mind."

"Hmm. Can you put her on please? I want to talk to her. Make sure she's okay."

"Yeah, sure."

I went upstairs and passed Katie the phone. "It's Cook, he wants to talk to you." I said. Katie took the phone.

"Hey Babe… Yeah, I'll be okay, just not feeling too great… No, don't come home… Yeah, Ems said that she would take me… No, really, it's okay… Yep, see you tonight… I love you too. Bye."

Katie passed the phone back to me.

"Anything I can get you?" I offered.

"Nah, I'm good. I think I'll sleep for a bit. Just wake me up when it's time to go, yeah?"

"Will do. I'll go fill up your hot water bottle."

I came back up to the bedroom a few minutes later to find Katie already fast asleep. I put the hot water bottle under the blankets and made sure she was tucked in properly.

Two hours later we were sitting in waiting room of the doctor's clinic, waiting for Katie's name to be called. Katie had thrown up again while we were waiting and a nurse cleaned her up.

Finally Katie's name was called and we followed the doctor to his room.

"What seems to be the problem, Kathryn?"

Katie was holding a sick bag that a nurse gave her to her mouth and didn't look like she would be able to open her mouth without puking, so I thought I better answer for her.

"She's just been really sick all day. She's thrown up about seven times today already. And she's had a slight fever and been really tired."

"And this just started today?"

I nodded.

"No." Katie said. The doctor and I turned to look at her.

"What?"

"It started a few days ago."

"It did? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it didn't get really bad until today." Katie croaked. "And I didn't want to worry anyone."

I just shook my head at her. That girl was hopeless sometimes.

"So Kathryn, have you had any other problems, beside vomiting? Headaches, dizziness, vomiting up blood?"

"Headaches for a few days. Wasn't too bad until today though. Vomited up a little bit of blood earlier today."

"Have you been feeling very stressed at all lately?"

"Nope. Been good."

"Okay, just hop up on the bed and I'll have a feel of your stomach."

The doctor pressed on her stomach, Katie looking like she was closer to throwing up again with every touch. He looked in her throat and ears, listened to her chest, took her blood pressure and temperature and asked her a whole bunch of questions.

"To be honest, Katie," The doctor said after he was done examining her, "I'm not too sure what the problem is. The fact that it has been getting worse over the last few days tells me that it's not just gastro or something like that. So if you don't mind, I'd like to take a blood sample and run some tests, just to make sure it's nothing too serious."

The doctor led us to another room with four beds all in a row. He made Katie lie down on one and closed a white curtain around us. He put a band tight around Katie's bicep and inserted a needle into the vein on her elbow. Katie squeezed my hand so hard that it hurt. The doctor filled three tubes with her blood, labeling each one with something different.

"I don't feel so good." Katie said suddenly. We turned to look at her. She was ridiculously pale. Her forehead was wet with sweat and her eyes glazed over, her eyelids drooping.

"Okay, keep your eyes open, Katie." He said. He removed the needle from her arm and passed me a little bandage and asked me to apply pressure to the spot where the needle had been a moment ago. The doctor called a nurse over to help and she got a damp cloth and wiped Katie's forehead with it. Katie's eyes were closed now. Her hands and neck were wet with sweat now, too.

"Katie, can you hear me?" The doctor asked.

Katie let out a little groan. I assumed that meant she could hear.

The doctor filled a cup with water and put it to her mouth. "Can you take a sip Katie?"

Katie opened her mouth slightly and the doctor tipped in a little bit of water. Most of it trickled down her chin, but I think she got some. The doctor instructed the nurse to take Katie's blood pressure while he got her to have a bit more water.

"Is she okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, she'll be right. She just didn't take too well to the blood test. Is she normally alright with needles?"

"She can't stand them. She has never fainted though."

"I see. She's a bit dehydrated from vomiting so much. She'll be okay in a minute. It might pay to take her to the hospital for the night though."

"Really? Is it that serious?"

"She needs to get her fluids back up, but I think if she has too much to eat or drink she'll just throw it up again. If they put her on a drip for a few hours she will be fine. And at the hospital they will know exactly what to do in case this happens again. Of course, it is up to you and her what you decide to do."

"If you think it's best that she goes to the hospital, then that's what we'll do. I wouldn't know what to do if she passed out again." I said.

A couple of minutes later, Katie was able to open her eyes and speak again. I explained to her that she was going to need to spend the night in hospital. She didn't seem too happy about it, but the fact that she threw up again when she tried to speak meant she wasn't able to put up much of a fight.

The doctor came back in to the room to say that he had called the hospital and that they would send an ambulance to come and pick her up. The nurse fetched a wheel chair and helped Katie to sit in it so that we would be ready to take her outside when the ambulance arrived. Katie asked me to call Cook but I knew that he would have his phone off while he was at work and I didn't have his work number. I decided my next best option would be to call Gina, who I knew would be at our house. I dialed our number and Gina picked up on the third ring.

"Hey Mum, It's Emily." I said.

"Oh hello, Emily love, how's Katie?"

"She's not too great. She has to stay in hospital overnight. They have sent an ambulance to come and pick her up."

"Well what can Kieran and I do to help?" That's what I love about Gina. Always happy to help.

"Well I need someone to call Cook at work and let him know. I don't have his work number, so you'll need to look it up in the directory."

"No worries, Kieran's on it now. What else do you need us to do?"

"Well I'm going to ride in the ambulance with Katie, but that means your car will still be here, at the doctors clinic."

"Ah, Naomi has just got home from work. I'll get her to walk to the doctors and pick the car up. Then she can go and pick up Cook from work and drive him to the hospital. Is that right?"

"That's great Mum. Thanks so much."

"You're welcome love, happy to help."

"Sorry I won't be able to cook dinner for us. Help yourselves to whatever you find in the kitchen. And make yourselves at home. I'll get your car back to you as soon as I can."

"No rush, Emily. Just make sure Katie is okay."

"Thanks. The ambulance has just pulled up so I have to go. Tell Naomi to call me when she gets to the hospital, okay?"

"Will do Emily, you take care now. Bye."

"See you."

I turned around to see a nurse wheeling Katie out to the car park. The paramedics talked to the doctor for a moment and then helped Katie in to the ambulance. She was looking slightly better now, so they let her just sit on the bed in the back, rather than strap her to the gurney. I climbed in next to her and we set off to the hospital.

Since the doctor had talked to the paramedics, we didn't need to wait in emergency for ages, they just took her up to a room. There was another woman in the room, but she had a curtain closed around her bed.

The nurses had a look at Katie, asked her a heap of questions, took her blood pressure and temperature again and put an identification bracelet around her wrist. They had just hooked her up to a drip when Cook and Naomi walked in to the room. Cook rushed over to the bed and kissed Katie on the forehead. I stood up and let him have the seat next to the bed and walked over to Naomi who standing by the door, holding a bag. She passed it to me as I reached her.

"Bought Katie some pyjamas. Thought they might be more comfortable." She said.

"Thanks Hun. Thanks for all your help." I leant in and pecked her on the lips.

"No problem. Is she okay?"

"I think so. They don't seem too concerned. They just want to keep her in for the night so that they can keep an eye on her. The doctor took some blood to run some tests and they are going to take some more tomorrow when she has a bit of her strength back."

"You look a bit stressed. Want to go get a coffee or something?"

"Yeah, that would be good. It's been a stressful few hours."

* * *

**Cook:**

I managed to convince the doctor to let me stay at the hospital with Katie overnight. Katie told the doctor that she would sleep better if I were there, so the doctor told me that I could stay, on the condition that I made sure she stayed calm and got plenty of sleep.

I had helped her get changed in to her pyjamas and settle down in bed. She had thrown up a few more times, even though she had nothing left to throw up. She wasn't chucking as frequently as she had been earlier though, apparently. She went very pale when one of the nurses adjusted one of the needles that was stuck in her elbow, attached to a tube, leading to the drip. She didn't pass out though.

Emily and Naomi had come back just before visiting hours ended and brought me a cup of coffee. They made me promise to call if there was any news and Emily promised to come back first thing in the morning.

So now Katie was tucked up in bed and I was sitting on the hard chair next to her. Katie was dozing off and I had my head resting on the side of her bed.

Next thing I knew, the room was dark and Katie was running her fingers through my hair softly.

"You okay, love?" I asked. "Can I get you anything?"

"No I'm fine. Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"No, it's fine. I'm here to keep you company and make sure you're okay, not to sleep."

"You should sleep though. You can't be comfy there. Come and lie on the bed with me." She wriggled over slightly so that there was space for me next to her.

"No, it's fine, I just want you to be comfy."

"Please?" She asked. "I'll sleep better with you next to me."

I smiled and gently sat down next to her, wrapping one arm around her and letting her cuddle in to me. She took my other hand and held it to her chest, being careful not to bump the needle in her arm, that I knew was causing her quite a lot of discomfort.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her.

"Not too bad. Still a little nauseous. And my throat hurts. It feels like it's all ripped up."

"That's because it is babe. The doctor said that's why you were throwing up blood – because there was nothing left in your stomach to throw up, so you were just ripping the lining of your throat."

"Ew."

"Yeah. How are you feeling beside that?"

"Pretty good. My needle in my arm hurts so much though."

"I know." I said sympathetically. "The nurse said it can be taken out in the morning. You would have replaced your fluids enough by then."

Katie and I talked for a little while longer, until Katie started yawning.

"Go to sleep, Hun. You need to rest or the doctor will kick me out." I told her.

"Will you stay here, next to me?" She asked.

"Yes." I said, kissing her on the forehead. "I'll always be here next to you. I'll never leave you. I love you so much."

"I love you, too." Katie said, snuggling in to me more and closing her eyes.

She was asleep within minutes. I snuggled back in to the pillows and managed to get a couple of hours of sleep as well, until a nurse came in to check on Katie and forced me to get off the bed.

The nurse examined Katie and detached the drip, to Katie's relief.

"You seem a lot better." The nurse said, "How are you feeling?"

"Still nauseous, but not as bad as I was."

"Okay, good. We just need to take a bit more blood and then you should be fine to go home."

Emily arrived an hour later, just as they had finished taking Katie's blood. I had called her earlier to fill her in on what was going on. I asked her to call a taxi for us, but she said that Gina and Kieran had ended up staying over last night so that we could have their car for today.

Since Emily was Katie's blood-relative, they needed her to sign a bunch of forms. Apparently being her boyfriend wasn't good enough. A nurse got a wheelchair for us and I helped Katie in to it. They said that the test results would be in by the end of the week and that we should bring her back if she got worse again, but that she would most probably be okay.

Emily drove us home and I had to carry Katie upstairs to our room. I tucked her in to bed and lay next to her until she fell asleep. Once she was asleep, I went back downstairs and asked Gina if I could borrow her car for a few hours. It was time to buy me and Katie a bed, I decided. It was too hard to make Katie crawl on to the mattress all the time. She deserved something comfier. So I told Emily to call me if anything happened and made her promise to tell Katie that I wouldn't be gone long, if she woke up before I got home.

Two hours later, I was home again, the back seats of the car folded down and a flat pack taking up the whole back seat and boot. Kieran helped me get it out of the car and bring the boxes inside. Katie said she was feeling well enough to go downstairs, so I helped her down to the lounge room and Gina gave her a bowl of homemade soup that she had made. It was great having Gina and Kieran around for a bit. Made it easier on Emily and me, taking care of Katie, while Naomi was at work.

So while Katie was eating her dinner, Kieran and I set up the new bed in our room. It took us much longer than it should have because we refused to look at the instructions. Then we had to start over when Kieran sat on it and the whole things collapsed and we realised we had done it wrong. I took a quick break to hold Katie's hair back while she threw up all her soup and then spent another hour building the bed, following the instructions this time.

Finally we were finished and I took Katie back to our new bed. She was so excited when she saw it. If she could move without puking, I probably would have got the best sex of my life.

The next week passed by slowly. Katie didn't get any better, but she didn't get worse either. She was able to keep some foods down, but not a lot. She was still throwing up a few times a day. She could hardly speak because her throat was so sore. We managed to keep her hydrated by making sure she frequently took small sips of water. If she had a whole glassful at once, she would just chuck it up.

I took the rest of the week off work so that I could take care of Katie and finally, on Friday, I got a call from the doctor saying the test results were back and could we please come in to see him that afternoon.

A couple of hours later, we were sitting in the waiting room of the doctor's clinic. A nurse led us through to the doctor's office and I shook the doctor's hand and introduced myself as James, Katie's boyfriend. The doctor told us to take a seat, opposite his desk. He asked Katie how she was feeling and then folded his hands and rested them on top of his desk.

"Well the results from the blood tests came back this morning, and I wanted you to come in to discuss them as soon as we could." The doctor said, looking at us seriously.

I looked across at Katie. She looked nervous. I took her hand and squeezed it gently. When nobody said anything, I decided to ask.

"So what were the results?"


	19. Chapter 19

**So here's the next chapter for you. It was originally part of the last chapter, but then I realised that it was frakking long, so I broke it up. I know most of you have guessed what's up with Katie - It wasn't supposed to be a huge mystery, it just seemed like a logical place to break it up. Hope no one is disappointed. **

**Thanks for the reviews. Keep them coming :)**

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* * *

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**Chapter 19**

**Katie:**

Emily and Naomi sat across the kitchen table facing me, their mouth open in shock.

"Pregnant?"

"Yep."

"But… How?"

"How do you think Ems? I know you're a lezza, but I'm pretty sure you know about the birds and the bees."

"You know that's not what I meant, Katie. I mean because of the premature menopause."

My mind flashed back to me and Cook sitting in the doctors office.

"_So what were the results?" Cook asked the doctor._

"_Well to be honest with you, I was quite surprised with them. It seems, Katie, that you're pregnant."_

_Cook and I both just stared at the doctor, mouths open._

"_Katie?" The doctor said after a moment, when Cook and I both said nothing._

"_What?" _

"_The test came back showing that you are pregnant. We only did a qualitative blood test, so I can't tell you how far along you are, but it definitely shows that you're pregnant."_

"_But… I mean… I don't… I can't… How?" I stuttered out._

"_I assume you mean because of the menopause?" The doctor asked._

_I nodded. Cook was still sitting there with his mouth open, staring at the doctor._

"_The menopause makes it highly unlikely that you could conceive, which is why I didn't test for pregnancy straight away. However, about 5% of women going through premature menopause do still conceive naturally."_

"_No one told me that." I said._

"_Really? The doctor that diagnosed you really should have explained everything to you from the start. Now, Katie, do you have any idea how far along you could be?"_

_I looked at Cook and thought for a minute. "No more than about… nine or ten weeks…?"_

_Cook nodded slightly._

"_Okay, good. You still have a bit of time to consider your options then. I'd like to take another blood test so that we can get a more accurate estimation of how far along you are. Once we know that, I'll have you back in to discuss your options."_

"_What do you mean my 'options'?" I asked._

"_Well basically you will need to decide whether to continue with the pregnancy, or whether you would like to terminate. Termination is best performed within the first twelve weeks, so if what you have told me is correct, and you are no more than ten weeks pregnant, you still have at least a couple of weeks to think about it. That's why I wanted you to come in as soon a possible, so that you would have maximum time to consider your options. But we will discuss everything in further detail when I have the results from the next blood test. By then you will have had a bit more time for this to sink in and have a think about it."_

_I looked over at Cook. He was leaning forward in his chair, his elbows resting on his knees, his face in his hands. Shit. _

_The doctor led us back to the room where they do the blood tests and Cook held my hand while they took the blood sample. I managed to stay conscious this time, thankfully._

"_Doctor?" Cook said, while the doctor was taking my blood. It was the first time he had spoken since he asked what the test results where._

"_Yes, James?"_

"_So this is why Katie's been so sick? Because she's pregnant?"_

"_Yes, that's correct."_

"_Isn't this a bit… extreme? I thought you just got morning sickness? Katie's not just sick in the mornings…"_

"_Well it's hard to say since it is still quite early on in the pregnancy, but it seems like Katie might be suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum, which is basically just an extreme case of morning sickness. I can't really say for sure, as it's hard to distinguish between normal morning sickness and extreme morning sickness but it will become clearer in the next few weeks."_

_Cook had borrowed Gina's car for the day so that he could drive me to the appointment and we drove home in silence. As soon as we got in the house, Cook pulled out his packet of cigarettes and went straight out to the back garden. I found Emily and Naomi in the kitchen, and told them the news, which brings us back to Emily and Naomi staring at me in shock._

I told them everything the doctor had said. They didn't say much. Actually Naomi didn't say a single word. Emily asked a few questions, but not a lot. It was clear that she didn't know what to say. I didn't blame her. I still wasn't sure how I felt about it. And I was worried about what Cook was thinking.

"Naoms, would you mind giving us a minute? I think me and Katie need to have a little chat." Emily said.

"Yeah, of course." Naomi said, rising from her seat at the kitchen table.

"Naomi?" I said.

She turned around to look at me. "Yeah?"

"I know it's a lot to ask, but would you mind going out and checking on Cook? I don't think he took it too well."

"Sure, no problem." Naomi said. She gave me an encouraging smile and went outside to join Cook.

* * *

**Naomi:**

"Hey Cook." I said, walking outside and sitting on the chair next to Cook. He was sitting in one of my outdoor chairs, smoking a cigarette. There was a pile of cigarette butts by his feet.

"Hey Blondie." He said quietly. "I take it you talked to Katie."

"Yep."

"And?"

"And what?"

"What do you think?" He asked.

"I'm not sure. What do you think?"

He just shook his head.

"What does that mean?" I asked him, not sure what he meant by just shaking his head.

"It means I don't know. This is not what I expected."

We sat silently for a few minutes.

"Talk to me, Cook." I said, knowing he had a lot on his mind and that keeping it to himself wouldn't help.

"This is not how I thought my life would turn out." He said.

"But…?" I urged him, sensing that there was more to what he was thinking.

"But this could be mine and Katie's one chance to have a kid of our own."

I didn't say anything, waiting for him to continue.

"I don't know how to be a Dad." He said. "What if I end up making a shit father?"

"Cook, do you want to be involved in this kids life?"

"Yes. Definitely."

"Then you're already a better Dad than either of our fathers."

Cook let out a little smile.

"Cook, you need to go and talk to Katie. From what she told us, it doesn't sound like you reacted the best. She's worried that you're taking it badly."

"Shit. You're right. I better go talk to her."

We stood up and Cook engulfed me in a tight hug.

"Thanks Blondie."

"You're welcome…" I said, not really sure what I had done to help.

"I love you, Naomikins. Never forget that."

"I love you, too, Cook." I said, hugging him back.

* * *

**Katie:**

"C'mon, lets go in the lounge room." Emily said, standing up and leaving the kitchen. I followed her through to the lounge room and we sat next to each other on the sofa. She took my hand and held it in her lap.

"Talk to me, Katie." She said.

I looked at her, tears welling up in my eyes. She immediately wrapped her arms around me and held me tight, comforting me as a few tears rolled down my cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" She asked me.

"I'm scared." I said quietly.

"Scared of what?"

"Everything. I'm pregnant. I'm only 18. And I don't think this is what Cook wants."

Emily moved to look me in the eye. "Forget about Cook for a bit. What do you want?"

I thought for a moment. "I want to keep it." I said. "I need to keep it."

"Then that's what you'll do." Emily said.

"It's not as simple as that though." I said.

"Isn't it?"

"No. There's so much other stuff that gets in the way."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm only 18. I have no job and hardly any money. I can't afford to move out and get my own place, but it's not fair on you and Naomi for me to stay here. Plus I'm pretty sure that Cook doesn't want this. I'm not sure if he ever wanted kids, and now he's going to be a father at 19. I can't force him to stick around… I don't _want_ to force him to stick around. But I don't know if I can do this on my own. I have no idea how to be a mother." I was starting to get a bit worked up as I thought of all the problems that come with being pregnant.

"Katie, calm down for a minute. All those things you said can be worked out. You are more than welcome to stay with me and Naomi for as long as you like, and don't you ever think that we wouldn't want you here. I don't care what anyone else says or does, I will be here with you, supporting every decision you make the entire time. You won't be doing this on your own, no matter what Cook decides. And you need to talk to Cook before you start jumping to conclusions. Cook's a good guy so don't just be assuming that he's going to leave. And I know you're young, but it doesn't matter how old you are, no one knows how to be a mother until you experience it. You'll learn how to be a good Mum when the time comes. Like you said, this could be your one chance to have a kid of your own. This is your dream, Katie. You're my sister and my best friend, and I'll support you no matter what you decide to do, but don't throw this away because you're scared, because there will always be something to be scared of. And if you cave in to your fears every time, then you would never get the rewards."

I leant back in to Emily as I thought about what she said. She was right. Everything she said was right. We sat like that for a while, Emily's warm embrace calming me down.

"Emily, could I talk to Katie alone for a moment please?" I heard Cook's voice at the door.

"Yeah, sure." Emily said, planting a kiss on my cheek, standing up and leaving the room.

Cook came and sat down in Emily's place. We sat on opposite ends of the couch, not touching. That had me worried. Cook almost always at least held my hand when we were together. Nobody said anything for a moment, so I decided I should start.

"Cook, listen… About this, I don't expect-"

"Katie, before you say anything, there's something I need to tell you. So I need you to just listen for a minute, okay?"

I nodded, preparing myself for the worst.

"First off, I'm sorry for the way I reacted when the doctor told us. Or, more accurately, my lack of reaction. I should have been more supportive, and I'm sorry."

"Cook, it's okay, I know-"

"No, Katie, I need to say this, before you say anything else."

"Right, sorry."

Cook took my hand and held it gently in both of his. It didn't calm me down like it normally does though. For some reason it just made me more anxious.

"So secondly, I just want you to know that it is entirely up to you what you decide to do. It's your body and your life and I respect that. However, having said that…" Cook took a deep breath before continuing. "I really want you to keep the baby." I looked up at him, shocked. I had been ready to hear that he wants me to terminate the pregnancy.

"Huh?"

"Like I said, it's completely up to you, and I will support you no matter what you choose. But I love you more than anything. This could be our one chance to have a kid of our own. We can't throw that away."

"Really?"

"Really. I know this is not what either of us planned, and I know that it's going to be fucking hard. I have no idea how to be a parent, but I want to learn with you. I want us to be together. I want us to raise this child together. I want us to be a family."

I wrapped my arms around Cook's neck and we sat holding each other tight for a while.

"Aren't you scared?" I asked him.

"Fucking terrified." He answered. "But the good kind of scared. Like the kind of scared I was when we went on our first date, or the first time we slept together."

I smiled at him and pecked him on the lips.

"Are you scared?" He asked me.

I cuddled in him as he continued to hold me tight. I nodded against his chest.

"What are you scared of?" He asked me.

"Everything. Just being pregnant, for one. And the thought of giving birth scares the absolute shit out of me."

"Yeah, that one freaks me out a bit too." Cook said. I let out a little laugh.

"What else are you thinking?" Cook asked.

I shrugged. "What am I _not_ thinking? I have no idea how to do this. I don't know the first thing about how to raise a child."

"We'll learn." Cook said, "We'll do it together. We'll manage. It can't turn out anymore fucked up than we are."

"Yeah. Seriously though, Cook… How are we going to do this? I mean we can say we'll just take it one step at a time and learn as we go, but it's not really that simple. We don't have much money… I can find a job, but I'll only be able to work for a few months, before I have to leave to have the baby. And where are we gonna live? It's not really fair to live with Em and Naoms when we have a baby. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to give the baby up, but do you really think we can do this?"

"I don't know. I don't know how it's all going to work, but I promise you it will work out somehow. If we need to move out, we'll find a place. I have no doubt that this will be the hardest thing we ever do, but as long as we stick together and keep loving each other no matter what, everything will turn out fine. I know that sounds like a fucking cliché, but we both know from experience that it doesn't matter how much money a family has, or where we live, or anything like that. What matters is that we love this baby more than anything else. It's not going to be easy, but I really believe that as long as we do our best, everything will turn out okay in the end."

"You are amazing Cook. I love you so much." I said.

"I love you, too, Katie."

"Thank you."

"What for?"

"Being so calm. For making me calm. And for supporting me."

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Katiekins."

We were quiet for a while as we let everything sink in. I think I went through every possible emotion in the last hour. This was about the last thing I expected when I woke up this morning.

"We should probably have a chat to Emily and Naomi." Cook said. "Let them know what's going on."

We went upstairs and found Emily and Naomi sitting on their bed talking.

"Can we talk to you guys for a minute please?" I asked.

"Yeah, of course, c'mon in." Emily said, patting the bed, telling us to sit down.

Cook and I climbed on to the bed and sat opposite them.

"So… You guys talked about everything then?" Emily said.

"Yeah, we had a good chat." Cook said.

"So what's the deal then?" Naomi asked.

Cook took my hand and gave it a little squeeze, letting me know that I should tell them.

"Well… We have decided that we are going to have the baby, and that we are going to raise it together." I told them, not really sure what I was supposed to say to them.

A huge smile spread across Emily's face. "So I'm gonna be an aunty?"

"Yep."

Emily held her arms our to give me a hug. I let go of Cook's hand, crawled up the bed and squished myself between Emily and Naomi and cuddled up with my sister.

"Do I get to be called aunty too?" Naomi asked.

I laughed and held her hand. "If you want to be." I said.

"So the other things we need to talk about then is our living arrangements." I said.

"What about them?" Emily said.

"Well it's hardly fair on you guys to have us living here with a screaming baby."

"But… I don't… I want you to…" Emily looked over at Naomi, a sad look in her eye.

"You don't have to go." Naomi said, on Emily's behalf. "You can stay here."

"Thanks, but this place is cramped enough with the four of us, and a baby takes up lots of space."

"Yeah, but me and Ems will be going to London for uni about the time the baby will be born, so you guys can have this place to yourself. I'm sure Mum and Kieran would be happy to keep it for you. And that way, we will have a place to say when we come back for holidays or weekends or whatever."

"I think it's something we're going to have to talk and think about for a while. We don't need to make any rushed decisions." Cook said.

Emily turned to look at me. "Please stay?" She whispered so that only I could hear her.

I kissed her on the forehead and hugged her tighter. "We'll talk about it. There's a lot to think about." I said.

The four of us lounged on Naomi and Emily's bed for a long time, talking everything through. Emily and Naomi started throwing around name suggestions. _Emily _and _Naomi_ were suggested quite frequently.

"I think I'm going to go and have a lie down." I said eventually. I was still quite sick and it had been a fucking crazy day.

I went back to my room and lay down on our bed. Cook joined me a couple of minutes later. I rolled on to my side to face him.

"You still feeling okay about all this?" I asked him.

"Yeah. I feel really good about it, actually." He said, "How do you feel about it?"

"Pretty good. There's still a lot to think about. But I feel like it's all going to work out." Cook smiled and pecked me on the lips. "But fuck me, if this sickness lasts for much longer, I might not be feeling so good about it in a while."

Cook laughed. "We have another appointment with the doctor on Monday and from there he'll tell us when we need to go in and have a scan. After that we will know a lot more."

"I guess we'll need to tell your parents at some stage, hey?" Cook said after a while.

"Oh. Yeah, I guess so." I said. I hadn't thought of that. I hadn't talked to my Mum for ages, so I wasn't too excited about having to tell them I was pregnant at 18, to a guy that I had been going out with for three months, who had spent most of last year in jail. Although my Mum would probably just be happy that she would be getting a grandchild, when she thought she never would. "They'll probably be pretty shocked." I warned Cook. "I haven't talked to them for a while, so they don't actually know that I'm seeing anyone at the moment."

"That's fine. We'll handle them together."

"We need to tell your parents too." I said.

"I don't talk to my Dad." Cook said. "He doesn't need to know. And I'll tell Mum, but she probably won't care. Gina and Kieran are more like my parents these days. We'll need to tell them pretty soon too."

"Yeah."

"Maybe we can have them and your parents over for dinner sometime next week?"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"We'll have to tell Paddy too – my little brother. He'll be quite excited I think."

"I think James will be too. We'll just have to make sure the baby doesn't spend much time around him and pick up all his nasty habits."

* * *

**So my sister and brother-in-law were living with me while my sister was pregnant and she had hyperemesis gravidarum for her entire pregnancy. So for 8 months I had the joy of being woken up at 4 o'clock every morning to the sound of her hurling in the next room... and then about 20 more times throughout the rest of the day... So I couldn't resist adding it in to this story. It really is horrible though... Or so my sister tells me... **

**Anyway... Hope you enjoyed... Next chapter should be up some time in the next few days.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello friends! Sorry sorry sorry it has been so long since I have updated! I know, I'm shit. Hospitalised grandparents, car accidents, a weekend-long babysitting gig, a horrible first week back at uni, not getting along with my family (even more than normal), my best friend from uni dropping out and all kinds of other shit has made these last few weeks even more intense than the moment in Emily's episode in season 4 when Said The People by Dinosaur Jr. starts playing. Anyway. Rant over. **

**Hope this is okay for you. I found it really hard to get back in to writing after having a break from it.**

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**Chapter 20**

**Emily:**

"Naoms, it'll be okay. It's only a few hours."

"I just don't get why we have to be home for this. It's Cook and Katie's baby, not ours."

"Naomi, we can't make Katie do this by herself. You know better than anyone what my Mum can be like. Katie really needs our support tonight. And Cook not only has to meet them for the first time, but also needs to tell them that he knocked up their daughter. He needs you here as his friend tonight."

"I guess so." Naomi said solemnly.

"Besides, your Mum and Kieran are coming as well."

"Yeah, that's the other thing I don't get. Your Mum and my Mum could not be more different. Why did they have to invite them over on the same night?"

"Naomi, we've been over this a zillion times. They're all coming over tonight because they wanted to tell all the parents on the same night."

"But Mum and Kieran aren't-"

"Yes, I know, your Mum and Kieran aren't Cook's parents, but he doesn't talk to his parents, and he loves your Mum and Kieran like they were his parents. What they think means a lot to him. Plus, they wanted all our parents to meet, and this seemed like a good opportunity."

"Great opportunity, stupid idea." Naomi said.

I walked over to where she was sitting on our bed, wearing just her bra and knickers, her hair still wet from her shower. I knelt on the bed in front of her. "Naoms, I know you don't want to do this. I'm not really looking forward to it either. But it has to be done, so please, please just make a bit of effort. It's only for a few hours, it won't be that bad. You get along fine with Dad, and James loves you… possibly a bit more than he should, but at least you won't have any problems getting along."

"It's fine with your Dad and James, it's your Mum that's the problem."

"I know she can be a bitch, babe. But listen… if you put in a bit of effort. Be polite to her, answer any questions that she asks you, make a bit of friendly small talk with her… then I'll make sure you are _very_ well rewarded." I told her.

"Yeah, how do you plan on doing that?" She asked, holding on to my neck and pulling me slowly toward her.

"Hmm, I have a few ideas." I said, pecking her on the lips and then moving across and kissing down her neck.

"If it involves anything like what you're doing now, I think dinner with your mother is definitely worth it." She said, as I slid my hand up her naked thigh.

She lay back against the pillows and pulled me down with her. We kissed for a minute, Naomi's hands tangled in my hair, mine scratching lightly over her ribs.

Eventually I pulled back slightly. Naomi wrapped her legs around my waist, holding me in place.

"You know," She said, "I normally ask my customers to put down a little deposit… You know… Just to guarantee that they won't back out of their promise…" She pulled me in to a seductive kiss. I kissed back for a moment, before pulling away.

"As much as I would love to give you a little preview, everyone's gonna be here in half an hour, and Katie needs my help down in the kitchen. And you need to finish getting ready, because as much as James would like it, it might be a bit awkward if you come down to dinner only wearing your underwear."

"Fine." she grumbled, releasing her grip on me and allowing me to sit up again. "But this better be worth it, because it's not going to be easy getting through dinner with the Fitches when you have just gone and got me all turned on."

"Don't worry Hun," I said, "It'll definitely be worth it." I leant in so I was right next to her ear. "In fact, if you're really, _really_ good,I might even do that thing you like." I whispered.

A cheeky smile spread across Naomi's face. "Really?" She asked.

"Really." I promised her. "But only if you're _really_ good. And that means no being rude to my Mum, no flaunting our lesbian-ness in front of her, and no pulling faces behind her back!"

"Aww, you're no fun." Naomi joked.

"I'm serious. Last time you pulled a face behind her back, you made James laugh so hard he spat his drink out in her face. It definitely did not make her like you more."

"Fine, no face pulling." Naomi agreed.

"Good girl." I said. "Now get dressed and do your hair and then come downstairs and help me and Katie."

"Jesus, bossy much?"

"I thought that was how you liked it, babe." I winked at her.

Naomi just looked at me. "You better make sure tonight is fucking worth it, Fitch." She said, as I left the room.

* * *

"We're back." Cook said, as he walked through the front door. He walked in to the kitchen where Katie and I were cooking dinner, a young boy trailing after him.

"Katie, Emily, this is Paddy, my little brother. Paddy, this is my girlfriend Katie, and her sister, Emily." Cook introduced.

We all exchanged hello's and Katie and I returned to preparing our dinner.

"Hey Paddy!" Naomi said, walking in to the kitchen and taking a seat opposite him at the kitchen table.

"Naomi! Hi!" Paddy said. Apparently they had already met.

Naomi and Paddy talked for a while about how school was going, before Paddy asked if he could go and play in the backyard.

"Yeah, course you can little man." Cook told him, and Paddy ran out the back door.

"Did you tell him?" Katie asked him.

"Yep. He's very excited about being an uncle. I told him to keep his mouth shut until everyone else knows though."

"Good, I'm glad he's excited."

"I told my Mum, too." Cook said after a minute.

Katie turned to look at him. "How did that go?"

Cook shrugged. "Pretty much like I expected it would. She didn't really care that much."

Katie crossed the room and gave him a hug. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just wish she would pull it together and actually be a Mum sometimes. If not for me, then at least for Paddy."

"I know, babe." Katie said.

Katie and Cook continued talking quietly for a moment, while I kept cooking. I sent Naomi outside to clean up the outdoor dining table and chairs. There was no way we were going to fit ten people in our kitchen, and the weather was quite nice, so we decided it would be better to eat outside.

I heard a knock at the door and called Naomi to answer it.

"What if it's your family? Can't you answer it?"

"It's not my family, it's yours. I told your parents to come over earlier than mine. We might need to warn them about what my Mum can be like."

"Good idea."

Naomi left the kitchen and went to greet her mother and stepfather at the door. A minute later they all came back in to the kitchen. Gina and Kieran gave us all hugs, and Cook passed around beers.

"So Emily, Naomi said there was something you needed to warn us about?" Kieran said.

"Uh, yeah… Well… You know that my parent and little brother are coming tonight as well, right?"

"Yes, Naomi did tell us that."

"Okay, well basically my parents… Or my Mum, really… She's kind of known to be a little bit… How would you say it?"

"Bitch." Naomi offered. I gave her a look. "Sorry." She said.

"She can be a little bit judgmental." I explained.

"And when Emily says a little bit judgmental, she actually means a huge bitch." Katie said.

"Okay…" Gina said, "What kind of things does she do?"

"Well… She doesn't like me being gay… Which means she's not too fond of Naomi…" I said.

"And when Emily says she's not too fond of me, she means she hates me."

"She doesn't hate you, she just-" Naomi looked at me. "Okay, yeah, she hates you. But eventually she'll get over me being gay and she'll come to love you."

"Okay." Gina said, "So be prepared for her to hate my daughter. Anything else?"

"Well… Since she doesn't like Naomi, and you're her Mum, she might be a bit… um-"

"She'll hate me too?" Gina asked.

"Well, yeah, probably. So you might just want to make sure you don't do anything to get her too worked up."

"No worries. So be prepared to be hated, to have my daughter hated, and don't work her up. Got it."

"Good. And she'll probably be rude to me and Katie too, so just ignore that."

"So any pointers for your Dad? Anything me and him have in common that we can talk about?" Kieran asked.

Katie, Naomi and I all thought for a moment.

"Nope, not a thing." Naomi said.

"Well what's he in to? I might be able to think of something."

"Anything to do with fitness." Katie suggested. "But whatever you do, don't mention his gym, that will just end in a fight."

"Right. Fitness, but no gym. I played football as a lad, is he in to football?"

"Yeah, he loves it. He's a mad Liverpool supporter. What team do you go for?"

"Tottenham."

Katie and I groaned.

"What?"

"Dad hates Tottenham."

"Ah well, it'll give us something to talk about."

Just then there was a knock in the front door. I went and greeted my parents and brother and led them through to the kitchen where everyone else was waiting.

"Hello Rob. Nice to see you again." Naomi said, shaking Dad's hand.

"Great to see you, too Naomi. How have you been?"

"Very well thanks. Hello Jenna, how are you?"

"Fine." My Mum answered with an icy stare.

"Well, Rob, Jenna, James, I'd like you to meet my Mother, Gina, and my Stepfather, Kieran."

Dad shook both of their hands and exchanged pleasantries with them. Mum simply nodded and said hello.

Once Gina and Kieran had been introduced, Katie stepped forward and hugged our parents.

"Mum, Dad, there's someone I'd like you to meet." Katie reached out and took Cook's hand. "This is James Cook, my boyfriend."

Cook stepped forward and shook Dad's hand assertively. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Fitch."

"Great to meet you, too, James. And please, call me Rob."

Cook reached out his hand to shake my Mum's hand. "Nice to finally meet you Mrs. Fitch." He said.

Mum just ignored his hand and kept her arms crossed over her chest, staring him down.

"Aren't you the boy that was in jail all last year?"

I saw every ounce of confidence leave Cook at that moment. Gina and Kieran looked at each other, their eyebrows raised. I saw Katie open her mouth to have a go at our mother, but Cook just let his hand drop back to his side and answered.

"Yes, I did spend some time in prison last year. But you should know that I've changed a lot since then."

"Good to hear lad. So how long have you and my Katiekins been seeing each other then? I didn't actually realise she was seeing anyone at the moment." Dad said.

"Ah, almost three months, right Katie?"

"Yep, that's right."

"Well good for you." Dad said, smiling at Katie and Cook.

Half an hour later we were all sitting around the table outside eating our dinner. Naomi and I told Dad and James about our trip to Goa. Mum didn't seem too interested. Gina and Kieran jumped in occasionally with stories from their own travels.

After a while the conversation began to lull a bit. James and Paddy were talking to each other about video games, the rest of us making awkward small talk. I kept waiting for Katie and Cook to tell everyone their news, but I could see that they were both nervous and kept putting it off.

"So, Emily, what are your plans for next year?" Mum asked me after a while. "Are you ever planning on going to university?"

"We're taking the rest of the school year off, and then me and Naomi will be moving to London to go to Goldsmiths in September."

"You're moving there together?" Mum asked.

"Yes. We're planning on finding a flat in London to live in together."

"Don't you think you would both get more out of university if you studied separately? Just because you are going out, doesn't mean you need to attend the same university."

"We're not doing it just because we're together, we both want to go to Goldsmiths. It's a great uni." I said.

"I'm just saying that you shouldn't just do whatever the other wants. You need to live your own lives."

"We are, Mum. And we both want to go to London and go to Goldsmiths."

"But why Goldsmiths? Why can't you just go to uni here in Bristol? That way you will still be near your family."

"Yeah, because you really make the most of having your daughters living close by."

"Emsy," Dad said. He looked sad. I knew he hated it when Mum and me fought. And I actually would miss Dad when I moved to London.

"Sorry." I said.

An awkward silence settled around the table that Kieran eventually broke.

"And what are you both planning on studying?"

"I'll be doing a bachelor of English and history." I said. I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do after I finished university, but I figured if I studied two things that I was interested in, I couldn't go too far wrong.

"Sounds good." Said my Dad. "Naomi, what will you be studying?"

"I'll be doing a BA of sociology and politics."

"That's my girl." Kieran said, winking at Naomi. Naomi grinned back at him. I knew she loved having Kieran as her father. I knew she loved it when he said things as if she actually was his daughter.

"So what, you're planning on changing the world?" Mum said sarcastically.

Naomi looked up at her. "Something like that." She said. I rubbed her leg under the table, letting her know I was proud of her for being so civil and not letting her sarcastic side take over, even though my mother clearly wasn't holding back.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Mum asked.

"Still finalizing my strategy. I'll let you know once I've got the plan sorted." Naomi answered.

Cook, Katie and Kieran all held back their sniggers. Even my Dad had a slight smile on his face. Mum did not look too impressed.

"Do you really think a lesbian would be able to have that much impact on society?" Mum said.

Everyone's eyes shot up to look at her.

"Mum!" Katie exclaimed in shock.

"What? I'm just saying… People aren't going to take a young gay girl seriously. They will just see her as an immature, irresponsible teenager."

Gina did not look happy. I caught her eye and let her know not to say anything and that I had it under control.

"Well, Mum, maybe it will be a good chance to prove to all those homophobes out there that there is nothing wrong with being gay." I said.

"Yes, well of course she has you thinking that. She won't be able to convince many people of that though. The rest of the world knows that homosexuality is wrong."

"For fucksake, there's nothing wrong with being gay!"

"Emily, watch your language at the table." My Mum warned me.

"No! Mum, don't tell me what to do in my own house. This is _our_ table, and _our_ house, so as long as you're here, you live by _our_ rules."

"Fine. I'm just saying that I don't think either of you are thinking things through properly. I think you would both do better if you just followed your own dreams by yourselves, instead of trying to work around each other."

I kicked Katie under the table and looked at her pleadingly, begging her with my eyes to make their announcement and take some of the heat off Naomi and me.

She gave a little nod and cleared her throat. I saw Cook move his hand under the table so that they were holding hands.

"Everyone, me and Cook have an announcement to make." Katie said.

Everyone looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue. She looked at Cook and he gave her an encouraging smile.

"Cook and I are having a baby." She said. Looking at me as she said it, even though I already knew. I grinned at her. I was ridiculously fucking excited about it. Every time anyone mentioned it, I couldn't help but grin.

I looked around the table. Naomi was wearing a grin like mine. Gina and Kieran both looked happy, so did James and Paddy. Mum and Dad looked confused.

Katie and Cook looked around the table, waiting for someone to say something. After a second Gina and Kieran got up and walked around the table to give them both hugs and say congratulations.

Dad gave Katie and hug and shook cook's hand, but still looked a bit confused. I don't think he ever thought about that fact that Katie and me are no longer virgins. Dear god, I hope he didn't think about that…

Mum just sat there staring straight ahead.

"Jenna?" Dad said, getting Mum's attention.

"Yes?"

"Do you have anything to say to the kids?"

"I… But… How?"

Katie just looked at Mum like she was stupid.

"I mean, I know _how_, Katie, I meant because you're not supposed to be able to have children."

I heard Kieran whisper in Naomi's ear, asking what the fuck she was on about and Naomi telling him that she would explain later.

"Well the doctor said there's about a 5% chance that someone going through premature menopause can still have children. But no one told me that, so I didn't know."

"Oh. I see. And… so… You're keeping it then?"

"Yes."

"Have you thought it all through?" Mum asked. I could tell she wasn't meaning for it to sound rude. She was just looking out for Katie.

"Yes. Me and Cook talked about it and decided that this is what we want."

Mum looked at Katie, who was sitting next to her and a smile graced her face. A real, genuine smile. A smile that I didn't see very often.

"Then I'm very happy for you. For you both." She said, looking at Cook.

Katie smiled in relief at our mother's good reaction and they shared a hug.

I smiled sadly at the sight of my sister and mother sharing a moment of true happiness. I was so happy for Katie and Cook, and happy that Mum had taken it well and that they were getting along. But at the same time I couldn't help but be a bit sad that I would never have a moment like that with her. I knew that Naomi wanted to adopt a kid one day, and even if I did end up pregnant one day, I knew that my Mum's disapproval of our lifestyle meant that she would never be truly proud or happy with the decisions that Naomi and I make.

I felt Dad nudge my foot with his under the table and I looked up at him. He gave me a little smile and a wink. I knew he knew what I was thinking and it made me feel better to know that he didn't feel the same way as Mum. I knew that he would support me and Naomi with whatever decisions we made and that he would love any children that we may have just as much as he would love Katie and Cook's kid.

I looked at Naomi as my Mum rose from her seat and moved to give Cook a hug. Sadness filled her eyes and I knew it was because my Mum had never, and probably would never, be like that with her. I lifted her hand to my mouth and kissed it gently. She smiled slightly and leant her head on my shoulder so I could kiss her on top of her head.

"What do you think, James?" Katie asked our little brother, who hadn't said anything since the announcement.

He shrugged. "Cool."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. So I'm gonna be an uncle then?"

"Yep. Excited?"

"Yep. I'm gonna teach him everything I know." He said with a cheeky smile.

"No you fucking won't." Katie warned him. "Our kid will not be turning out like you."

Naomi and I laughed. Mum gave us a scary look. Jesus, that woman can change from hot to cold and back again incredibly fast.

"Be nice to your brother." She told us.

"So Katie," Dad said, changing the topic. "How far along are you?"

"The doctor said about seven weeks. I'll be going in to have my first scan at the end of next week and they'll be able to give a better estimation then."

* * *

We finished our dinner and Naomi and I cleared the dishes and took them in to the kitchen while all the others kept talking. I walked up behind Naomi who was filling the sink with hot water and wrapped my arms around her waist and rested my head on her back.

"You okay?" she asked me, turning around and hugging me.

"Yeah. It's just so much effort."

"I know." She said, "We'll have dessert now though, and then hopefully it will wrap up quite quickly after that."

"Yeah. Are you doing okay?" I asked, looking up in to her eyes.

"Yeah. Like you said, it's hard work, but it's not the worst dinner we've had."

"Thank you for being so good and putting up with her." I said, kissing Naomi on the lips.

"You're welcome. But tonight had better be good, or I won't put in so much effort next time."

I smiled and pulled her down in to a deeper kiss.

"I don't think that's going to make your mother accept your gayness any time soon." Gina said, walking through the kitchen door.

Naomi and I pulled away and turned to Gina. "Sorry about this." I said, "I didn't think she would say most of that stuff with you here. I thought she would hold her tongue a bit more."

"It's okay. From the stories I've heard from the two of you about the infamous Jenna Fitch, that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. She seemed happy for Katie and James, and that was the main point of tonight, so that's good."

"Yeah, she did." Naomi said, "I was worried there for a moment, but it ended up being okay. What do you think about it, Mum?"

"I'm very happy for them both. It's nice to see something good happen to them."

The rest of the evening went by with no real problems. Dad, Gina and Kieran all got on really well, despite the fact that they had nothing in common. I don't think I would say that Mum got along with them, but she didn't not get along with them either. James and Paddy spent most of the night talking about video games and sports and whatever else young boys talk about. I don't know… made no sense to me.

The night ended surprisingly well. Mum and Dad made Katie and Cook promise to call them later in the week after they had the scan. Mum hugged them both and Dad hugged Katie and shook Cook's hand. Then Mum turned to where I was standing by the bottom of the stairs, holding Naomi's hand. She thanked us both for a lovely dinner and stepped forward to give me a hug. I felt Naomi loosen her grip on my hand so that I could hug my mother back, but I just squeezed her hand tighter, hugging Mum with one arm. We held each other close for a moment. It felt strange. Mum and me didn't hug. Ever. So it felt weird hugging her. It didn't feel bad though, like I would have expected it to. It felt kind of… nice… As much as she pissed me off, I realised that I did actually miss having a Mum around. And even though we were never really that close, I did miss having her there to take care of me when I needed her to.

"I love you Emily." I heard her whisper in my ear as she hugged me.

"I love you too, Mum."

She pulled away and turned to Naomi. "Well… Good night Naomi." Mum said. She hesitated for a moment before stepping toward Naomi and giving her a quick one-armed hug. Naomi reciprocated for a moment before they both pulled away.

"Night Jenna." Naomi said, looking a bit awkward. I ran my thumb over the back of her hand and she turned to me, a tiny smile on her face.

Dad came over and gave us both big hugs, making us promise that we wouldn't leave it so long until we invited them over for another visit.

Gina and Kieran stayed long enough to help us clean up a bit and then went on their way as well.

* * *

I finished cleaning up the kitchen and went outside to find Naomi. I stood by the door for a moment just watching her. She was lounging in one of the outdoor chairs, fag in one hand, the other hand fiddling with her necklace. She somehow looked happy and sad at the same time. I don't know how long I stood there watching her, but before I knew it, she was pulling a second cigarette out of her pack. I knew something wasn't right then. She only ever smoked one straight after the other when something was wrong.

She reached over to pick up her lighter, but accidentally knocked it off the armrest, where it lay. She leant over to pick it up off the ground and that was when she spotted me. She gave a little smile and gestured for me to join her. I made my way over to her and as I got close, she patted her knee, telling me to sit on her lap.

I sat down on her lap and twisted my upper body to face her better. I didn't say anything for a while; just waited to see if she would talk first. She didn't though. She just sat there smoking. She didn't offer me the fag like she normally would. She didn't hold my hand, or hug me like she normally would. She just sat there smoking, playing with her necklace and staring absently at the back fence.

Eventually I decided to break the silence. "What's up Naoms?"

She sighed and looked in to my eyes briefly before looking away again. "Do you remember when you got me this?" She asked, holding out her necklace so that I could see what one it was.

It was a thin silver chain, with a small silver love heart. Nothing too special. Except that on the back of it, near the bottom of it, in tiny little letters, I had our initialsinscribed on it. I had got it for her a few weeks after the love ball. When everything was perfect. She didn't even notice the inscription on it until a few days later, but when she did… There hasn't been many times that she has shown emotion like she did that day. Or at least, at that time there hadn't been many times when she had shown emotion like that.

"Yeah, I remember." I said, "In the Summer after the love ball. You saw it in the jewelers shop that time we went in to buy Mum's birthday present."

"And I said I liked it and you went back later and got it inscribed and surprised me with it."

"Yeah."

We sat in silence for a moment. "Naomi, what's going on? Why did you ask if I remember that?"

Naomi just continued staring in to space and I saw her eyes grow wet with tears that threatened to fall.

"Naoms, babe, talk to me. You're starting to scare me. What's wrong?" I said, lifting her face to look at me.

"I never did anything like that for you. You were so amazing to me and I never did anything to show you how much you really mean to me." She said, tears beginning to trickle down her cheeks. I brushed them away and cupped her cheeks in my hands.

"Naomi, first of all, none of that stuff matters to me. All that matters is that I love you, and you love me, and that we are happy together. Second of all, how can you say that you never do anything like that for me? I gave you one necklace; you confessed your love to me in front of all our friends. You took me on a romantic trip to Goa. But you know what my favourite things that you do are?"

Naomi raised her eyebrows slightly, waiting for me to continue.

"You take me on dates to our lake. You cook me dinner. You hold my hand when we walk down the street. You make me sit on your lap instead of the chair next to you. You cover me up with blankets when I fall asleep reading. You cheer me up when I'm sad. You are always, always there for me. But most of all… Most of all you love me. And that is all I will ever need. Knowing that you love me is more than enough for me. No romantic gesture could ever measure up to how you make me feel every time you tell me you love. Those three little words make me feel on top of the fucking world. Higher than that, even. I could have nothing in the world, but the knowledge that you love me, and I would be the happiest fucking person in the entire universe."

Naomi smiled slightly and pulled me close to her. I snuggled in to her chest as she held me tight. I pulled away when I felt her sobbing against the top of my head. I turned my body so that I was straddling her lap and I pulled her toward me, so that I was the one cuddling her. She leant her head against my chest and sobbed her heart out in to my shirt. Her hands were grasping at the back of my shirt so tightly I'm surprised it didn't rip. Her whole body was shaking as the sobs racked through her body. And the worst part was that there was nothing I could do. I had no idea what had brought this on. I had no idea why she was so upset all of a sudden.

The thought jumped in to my mind that maybe she felt guilty for something, which immediately put the thought in my mind that maybe she had cheated again. I quickly dismissed that thought. I was 100% certain that she would never do that again. I trusted her more than anyone in the world.

So I sat there, holding my girlfriend, letting her tears soak my shirt, my own tears dampening her hair as they ran down my cheeks and on to the top of her head. I didn't even know why I was crying. Except that it was fucking horrible to see Naomi, who was normally so strong, falling apart in front of me, and there was not a single thing I could do about it.

I saw Katie poke her head out the back door and wave goodbye, letting me know that she and Cook were going to take Paddy home. I nodded, appreciating that she knew to give us some space.

After a long time, Naomi's breathing started to even out slightly. She stopped grabbing at my shirt and instead began running her fingers up and down my spine. Instead of sobbing in to my chest, she just leant against it peacefully.

"You wanna tell me what that was about?" I asked her after a minute.

Naomi pulled away and leant against the backrest of the chair. She shuffled over slightly so that I could squeeze in beside her, which I did. I could tell that she was still feeling very vulnerable, so I wrapped my arm around her and she rested her head on my shoulder. With my free hand, I took one of hers and twisted out fingers together, waiting for her to speak.

"Do you think… I mean… I love you so much, so please don't take this the wrong way or anything, but… Do you think… Don't you think you could do better than me?"

I looked at her puzzled. I hadn't been expecting that. "What?"

"It's just… I know we never let what your Mum thinks bother us, but maybe she's right. Maybe I am just a dumb kid with dumb ideas about changing the world."

I grabbed Naomi's face and turned it toward me. "Naomi! Never, ever say that again!" I said angrily. "Don't you dare let some stupid comment my Mum said make you think that you are dumb or that you can't achieve your dreams."

"She's right though, Ems. I'm just a kid. A gay kid. I'll never have the same amount of influence as other people do. I'll never earn very much money… I'm not going to be able to give you much. I won't be able to buy you fancy things. I won't be able to afford to send our kids to private school. We probably won't be able to have a fancy house… There is so much that you could do, and I'm worried that I'm going to hold you back from that."

"Naomi, do you love me?" I asked her.

"Of course I do!" She said, sounding shocked that I even needed to ask. "I love you more than anything in the world. You _are_ my world, Emsy."

"Then that's all I will ever need. You think I give a shit whether our kids go to private school or not? The only thing that matters to me is that you actually _want_ to have kids with me. I couldn't care less if we lived in a cardboard box on the street, as long as you were there living in it with me. I love so much, Naoms. One of the main things I love about you is your passion to see the world change. And I don't ever want you to lose that passion."

A small smile spread across Naomi's face. I brushed some hair out of her eyes.

"You believe me, don't you? My life would be nothing without you. I love you so, so, so much." I told her.

"I know." She said. "I guess I just need reminding sometimes."

"Then I will spend every single minute, of every single day, of the rest of our lives, reminding you just how much you mean to me." I said, kissing her lightly on the lips. "Now, do you want to go back inside? I promised that if you were good tonight, I would make it worth your while. And you were extremely good."

Naomi smiled and hugged me. "I am definitely looking forward to that. But for now… Can't we just sit like this… for a bit?"

"Yeah… We can." I said. I knew she would be expecting me to add 'for a bit' on to the end, like I had last time we had shared those words. But the truth was, I would willingly sit with her like that for the rest of our lives.

* * *

**Hope that was alright for you. No guarantees about when the next chapter will be up, but it definitely won't take as long as this one did.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Hi Mum! Hi Dad! Hi bitches! Here's the next chapter for you. I felt like I have been neglecting our favourite lesbians a bit lately, so this chapter and the next will be completely (or mostly) about them. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 21**

**Naomi:**

"Jesus, Emily. That feels _so_ good."

I woke up to the sensation of Emily sucking on my naked tits. After a long night of hot sex, Emily and I had finally drifted off to sleep, completely naked, the bed sheets still at our feet. It still amazed me that Emily and I were still able to take each other to new levels every time we had sex. After confessing my feelings to Emily last night, she seemed determined to rid me of every single insecurity I possessed. She spent hours making passionate love to me, repeating over and over how much she loved me and how much I meant to her until I had no choice but to believe her.

I felt Emily smile against my skin as she pulled a nipple in to her mouth and bit down on it softly.

"Fuck me." I gasped, arching my back and pushing my breasts further in to her face. One of her hands ran lightly over my ribs and began massaging the breast that wasn't covered by her lips. I moved my hand from where it lay on the pillow beside me and tangled it in Emily's hair. I massaged her scalp gently, my eyes still closed, as she moved over to my other tit. I ran my hand down her back and was surprised to feel that she was clothed. I opened my eyes and looked at her. She was lying on her stomach adjacent to me, fully clothed. Jeans, t-shirt, even shoes.

"Why are you dressed?" I asked her, tugging on the bottom of her t-shirt and pulling it up a bit so that it exposed the utter perfection of her back.

"Because we're going out." She said, kissing up my chest and neck, making her way to my lips.

"Where?" I mumbled through the deep kiss that Emily had pulled me in to.

"Surprise."

I pulled Emily closer to me and went to roll us over so that she was underneath me. As I moved, I caught sight of the bedroom window. The curtain was closed but there was no light spilling around the edges like there normally is when I wake up.

"Emily, what time is it?" I asked, pulling my lips away from hers.

She hesitated for a second. "5:45."

"What the fuck? We've only been asleep for two hours! Why did you wake me up so early?"

"Because for this surprise to be worth it we need to leave early." She said sweetly, pushing me back over and kissing me lightly on the lips, immediately causing all my anger at being woken up at such an un-godly hour to disappear. Damn her and her manipulative ways.

We continued to kiss for a few minutes, Emily on top of me, resting between my naked thighs. She grinded her hips in to me occasionally, the feel of her denim jeans against me making me ridiculously hot. I pulled her top up a bit higher so that I could see her bra-clad breasts. I bit down on her tit through the material of her bra, causing her to groan and grind her hips in to me again.

"You're wearing too much." I said, reaching my hands behind her and undoing the clasp on her bra.

"Naoms, stop." She gasped. Pulling away from me a little.

"No." I said, pulling her closer again and kissing her neck as I tried to pull her t-shirt and bra off. She wasn't cooperating though.

"Naoms, we don't have time. We'll be late. We're leaving in half an hour and you need to take a shower still."

"Are you saying I smell?" I asked.

"Honestly, yeah. You really need a shower." She said. I opened my mouth in shock and looked at her, pretending to be offended. "But after last night," she continued, nibbling lightly on my lower lip, "I don't really blame you for getting all hot and sweaty." She raised an eyebrow at me and moved close so that her lips were almost touching mine. I could feel her hot breath on me and moved closer to kiss her, but as soon as my lips brushed against hers she pulled away, smirking sexily down at me. I leant forward and tried to catch her lips in mine, but she pulled away again and sat up, and then climbed off the bed.

"Hey! You can't just be all sexy like that and then suddenly go frigid on my arse!" I said, climbing out of bed. I took a step toward her and pulled her close to me before she could dodge me. She laughed as I placed quick, playful kisses all over her face.

I felt Emily reach behind her, but before I could see what she was doing, she had grabbed a cushion off the sofa that stood in the corner of our room and decked me over the head with it.

"You're going to pay for that, Fitch!" I said, picking her up and tossing her on to the bed. I jumped on top of her and started tickling her stomach; the place I knew always got her.

She begged me to stop between laughing and squeals, but I refused. I pulled up her t-shirt and blew a raspberry on her stomach, causing her to laugh even more.

Finally I collapsed beside her, both of us breathless from laughing so much. Emily crawled on top of me and pinned my hands up above my head. I saw her eyes flick down to my chest and I pushed my tits out slightly so that I knew they would grab her attention. They did. I saw her lick her lips and her pupils dilate slightly.

"Like what you see babe?" I said.

"Jesus, this is getting nowhere." She said. "We have to leave in 18 minutes and you still haven't had a shower."

She climbed off me and stood up. "You go have a shower, I need to find my phone and message Katie. She and Cook never came home last night and I need to let her know our plans." She crossed to the door and turned back to look at me just before she left the room.

"Naomi, get up. You need to get ready now or we'll be late, and we can't be late."

"Late for what?" I asked. I loved it when Emily made surprise plans for us, but I hated waiting to find out what they were.

"Not telling."

"Please?"

"Nope. Now go have a shower."

"Join me?" I asked.

"We don't have time for that." She said, starting to sound frustrated, but I knew it was still in good fun. "Just go have a shower, the sooner you are ready, the sooner you will find out what the surprise is."

"But I don't even know if I will like the surprise. Why bother having a shower and getting ready when I might not even like it?"

"Fucking hell. Will you be quicker if I agree to have a shower with you?" she said, finally giving in. I smiled and nodded at her. "Fine!" she said, grabbing my hand and dragging me to the bathroom. "But it's just a shower! No funny business, Campbell!"

"Whatever you say, Fitch." I agreed.

Emily ran the water and stripped off her clothes while she water for the water to warm up. I stood there watching as her clothes quickly disappeared and she was naked before me.

"Stop perving and get in." She said. I stepped in to the shower and she followed me, closing the shower curtain behind her.

Emily washed me, at my insistence, and I managed to steal a few good kisses and plenty of good looks at her wet body. This was so much better than showering by myself, even if Emily was turning off the taps far before I wanted our shower to be over.

Emily threw me a towel, grabbed one for herself and we began to dry ourselves off. Emily was dry, re-dressed, hair and makeup done and ready to leave the bathroom long before I had finished even drying myself off. "Jesus, Naomi, how long does it take to get dry?"

"I like to make sure I'm completely dry before I get dressed." I explained.

"Whatever. I'm going to go and make us some breakfast. You hurry up and get dressed and then come down to the kitchen." She left the bathroom and left me sitting on the edge of the bath, drying my legs slowly.

Once I was dry I threw my hair up in to a messy ponytail and put on a little bit of makeup. I went back to our room and looked in the wardrobe, trying to decide what to wear. Since I had no idea what Emily was planning, I had no idea what to wear. Since Emily was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, I decided my best option was to go with that as well. I pulled on my favourite black skinny jeans and my pig shirt, just to tease Emily. I knew she always got turned on when I wore that. It made her remember our first time at the lake. I pulled on my Chuck Taylors, put on a gray hoodie, zipped it up and left the bedroom, passing Emily on the stairs.

"Your breakfast is on the table." She said, walking right past me and in to the bedroom. I went to the kitchen and saw a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal waiting for me, the carton of milk and a spoon next to it. I smiled as I sat down and added the milk to my cereal. Normally I hated it when people treated me like a kid, but when Emily did it I loved it. I loved that she liked taking care of me. I finished my breakfast and coffee and was about to join Emily in the bedroom when she came down the stairs. She passed me my phone that she had brought downstairs for me and I slipped it in to my back pocket.

"What's with the bag?" I asked, indicating to the overnight bag that Emily had slung over one shoulder.

"It's all part of the surprise." She said. "You ready to go?"

"Yep, I just have to grab my wallet and keys and stuff."

"I've already got your wallet." She said, patting her handbag that was slung over her other shoulder. "And you don't need your keys coz I've got mine."

I followed Emily out the front door, and was surprised to see my Mum's car parked out the front, Mum waving at us like a loon from the driver's seat.

"Ems, why the fuck is my Mum here?"

"I called her and asked her to give us a ride."

"A ride to where?"

Emily gave me a look and I got the point. "Right, it's a surprise, got it."

Emily hopped in the back seat, leaving the front for me. Mum set off down the street, while she and Emily chatted. I spent the whole time looking out the windows, trying to figure out where we might be going, but I had no idea. Before I knew it, Mum pulled in to the train station. She stopped the car and Emily leant over her seat, pecking Mum on the cheek. "Thanks Mum." She said. "See you."

"Bye love." My Mum replied. "Goodbye Naomi."

"Where is she taking me?" I asked Mum.

"You'll find out soon enough. Have fun." Mum answered, putting out her cheek for me to give her a kiss as well.

I just hook my head at her, letting her know I was annoyed that she wouldn't tell me and hopped out the car to the sound of her laughing at me.

* * *

"London? You're seriously taking me to London?" I asked Emily a few minutes later, as we sat on the train. We had found an empty compartment and we were sitting opposite each other.

"Yep."

"Why?"

"I thought it would be nice… Why? Do you not want to go? We don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, I want to go. I'm just surprised."

"Yeah, well that is kind of the point. That's why it's called a _surprise_." Emily said, slowly as if I were dumb.

I poked my tongue out at her and moved to sit next to her. I placed a soft lingering kiss on her cheek. "Thank you." I whispered in her ear.

She turned her head to look at me and she kissed me on the lips, gently but tenderly.

"You're welcome." She said.

I moved over on the seat and lay down along the length of it, resting my head in Emily's lap. She automatically started playing with my hair, twisting it around her fingers and untangling the knots.

"How are you feeling after last night?" She asked me.

"Well I'm a bit sore, to be honest. I didn't know you had it in you Hun." I said, winking up at her.

Emily laughed and slapped me playfully on the arm. "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

"I'm okay." I said, "I don't really know what was up last night. Just a long day I guess. Was a little bit emotional." I explained.

"A little bit emotional?"

"Okay, a lot emotional." I admitted.

"That kind of stuff doesn't just come out of nowhere though, Naoms, you must have been thinking that stuff for a while."

"I guess it has sort of been in the back of my mind for a while, last night it all just came up to the surface."

"You should have talked to me about it. I mean I know you did last night, but you should have brought it up before then."

"I don't like talking about that stuff." I told her.

"Why not?" Emily asked me.

"It's just stupid stuff. I don't want to burden you with my shit when it doesn't even matter."

"It does matter though." Emily said, "It matters a lot."

I didn't say anything and Emily knew I didn't believe her. "It does, Naoms. Last time we didn't talk to each other about how we were feeling we ended up fucking everything up. I don't want that to happen again."

I sat up straight and looked Emily in the eye. "Emily, I will never do that to you again. I promise you. The last thing I want to do is hurt you again. You have to believe that." I told her.

"I do know that, that's not what I meant." Emily said, kissing me and gently pushing me back down to lie in her lap. "I know you'll never do that again, but if we don't talk about how we are feeling things will just get fucked up in some other way."

I nodded.

"So this is the part where you talk to me about how you're feeling, Naomi." Emily said.

"Do I have to?" I asked. I really fucking hate talking about my feelings.

Emily nodded.

"If I talk to you will you tell me your plans for London?" I asked.

"Okay."

"Really?" I asked, shocked. I was expecting her to say no.

"If it'll make you talk, yeah."

"Okay… I don't really know where to start though…" I said.

"How come when my Mum said you could never make a difference you believed her?" Emily asked.

"Everyone doubts themselves sometimes. I guess it was something I was already kind of thinking, so when your Mum said it, it just confirmed what I already knew."

"Gina Campbell's daughter thinks she can't make a difference? Don't let your mother hear that."

"I'm not my Mum, Em."

"I know you're not, but you're more like her than you realise."

I didn't say anything, just thought about what Em was saying.

"Naomi, if something matters to you; if you care about something, then you can always make a difference. Even if you don't completely fix something, you can still make a difference. Even if you only make a difference for one person, you have still made a difference."

"Making a difference for one person isn't exactly what I had in mind, Ems." I said.

"I wasn't finished." She said, "I was going to say that I really believe that you will make a difference for a lot of people. You are one of the most caring and determined people I know. I have absolutely no doubt that you will make a huge difference one day. I'm pretty sure that in 60 years me and you will be sitting in our rocking chairs in the nursing home saying, 'remember that time when you solved the problem of global warming?' or, 'remember when you cured world hunger?'"

I laughed at Emily's old lady imitation.

"Thanks, Em, but I think you're exaggerating a bit there."

"I don't care. I know you, Naomi. I know that if you set your mind to something you can do anything you want. You are an amazing person. I know something big is gonna happen in your future. I don't know what exactly, but I don't want you to give up on your dreams, just because you think it might not end up happening. I'm not going to let you give up on that. Your passion and concern and kindness for other people is one of the things I love most about you, and I'm never going to let you lose that. I'll spend every day of the rest of my life reminding you of that if it'll make a difference."

I rolled on to my side and wrapped my arms around Emily's hips, burying my face in her stomach.

"Thank you." I said. That was all I needed to say.

Emily leant forward and kissed my head before playing with my hair again.

We were quiet for a few minutes before Emily asked me another question. "Why did you say last night that I could do better than you?"

I didn't say anything, just hugged Emily tighter. This was the part I didn't want to talk about. I didn't know how to explain this to her.

"Naomi?"

I released my grip on Emily and rolled over so that I was facing away from Emily, to the seat opposite us.

"If I talk to you about this you need to promise not to take it the wrong way, okay? Because I love you so much and I don't want you to think that I don't want to be with you because some things that I say might sound like that, but that's not what I mean. I love you more than anything and I never want to be apart from you, so just remember that while I'm talking, okay?"

"Okay." I heard Emily say.

"Right… Well I guess… Fuck, this is hard to explain."

"Naomi, you can talk to me about anything. I promise not to get offended or to take things the wrong way. I just want to know what you're thinking. Exactly what you're thinking."

"Okay." I took a deep breath. "I sometimes feel like we just want completely different things."

"What? That's stu-"

"Don't say it's stupid." I said, cutting her off. "It's not stupid, I think about it a lot."

"Sorry," Emily apologised. "I won't interrupt again."

"So I sometimes we feel like we want different things. And I feel like I'm just going to hold you back form what you want. I know that you want to travel all over the world. And I _loved_ travelling to Goa with you. But as much as I loved that, and as much I hate Bristol sometimes, it's my home. And it's where I want to stay. I'm not saying I never want to travel at all. But at the moment I just want to get my degree and start working. Start making a difference. Don't get me wrong; I'm not going to be some crazy workaholic… I still want to take holidays with you, and take my weekends off and have a family with you. I just don't know if I can take years off at a time to go travelling. It's just not who I am."

"I know that Naoms, I've accepted that."

"Ems, please just let me explain."

Emily didn't say anything. I knew she wasn't annoyed, she was just showing me that she wasn't going to talk anymore.

"Thank you. Emily, I know you've accepted that. But I don't want you to just accept that. I want it to be what you want as well. But I know that it's not what you want. You're just doing it because if you're with me, that's the deal. So sometimes I just think that if we weren't together you could move on. You could find someone that wants to travel all over the world with you. Someone that your family loves. Someone that wants all the same things as you so that you wouldn't have to keep compromising. I can't give up what I want. I know it's selfish, but I can't be the one to compromise. And it's not fair to expect you to compromise either. But I want you to be happy, and I worry that if I keep you stuck in Bristol with me that you won't be. And you don't deserve that. You need to be happy. _I_ need you to be happy."

"Naomi, I know I said that I wouldn't interrupt again, but I need to stop you there." Emily said, pulling me up from where I lay so that I was sitting next to her. She cupped my cheeks and turned my face so that I was looking at her. She brought her face close to mine so that we were only inches apart.

"Naomi, I love you. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone and more than I ever could love anyone. You are my future, Naomi. I don't want a future without you. Staying in Bristol is _not_ a compromise for me. It's my ultimate dream. Yes, I would love to do some travelling. But I could go to every country in the world, see every sight there is to see, and that would never measure up to how amazing it would be to just live with you. I would rather live just one year with you than 50 years without you. One morning waking up to your face would be more beautiful than a million sunrises. If this trip to London is the last trip we ever have together that would be enough for me.

"I could never be as happy with someone else as I am when I'm with you. You are a part of me now. When you're not there, even if it's just eight hours while you're at work, I feel like a part of me is missing. I know that sounds like a fucking cliché, but it's true. Without you, there is no me. I don't ever want you to leave me. You _can't_ ever leave me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I _need_ to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to go through uni together. I want to get our own house in Bristol. I want to have kids with you. I don't mind how we have them, but I want to have a family with you. I want to hear our kids calling you Mummy. I want to tuck them in to bed and read them stories. And I want them to be _ours_. I want to journey with you as we grow up – as our kids grow up. I want to help you change the world. I want to see our kids off to university and watch them get married and have kids of their own. I want to grow old with you. I want to spend every single minute, of every hour, of every day, of every week, of every month, of every year with you for the rest of my life. As long as we are together I will always be happy."

We both had tears running down our cheeks now. I pulled Emily toward me and we sat on the seat, just hugging for a long time. We didn't need to say or do anything, we just sat together.

After a while Emily pulled her i-pod out of her handbag and gave us an earphone each. I put one in my ear and she put the other in hers. She rested her head on my shoulder and I rested my head on top of her head. Emily scrolled through her music until she finally settled on a song.

I heard the music begin to play. I didn't recognise the song.

_If you fall asleep down by the water, Baby I'll carry you all the way home._

I liked this song already.

_Everybody's gotta love someone, but I just wanna love you, dear._

_Everybody's gotta feel something. I just wanna be with you my dear._

_I know it's hard. I know it's hard. I know it's hard to be in this position._

_If they stop loving you, I won't stop loving you._

_If they stop needing you, I'll still need you my dear._

_If you fall asleep down by the water, Baby I'll carry you all the way home._

Emily took my hand and intertwined out fingers. I kissed her on top of her head, knowing that she picked this song for us to listen to because it meant something to her.

_You've gotta believe me when I say, when I say the word forever._

_And whatever comes your way; oh we'll still be here together._

_I know it's hard. I know it's hard. But I understand you, just take my hand._

I took the i-pod from Emily and looked at what the song was. It had suddenly become one of my all-time favourites. It was called Down by the Water, by The Drums_._ I flicked back to the playlist she had got it from. _All the good ones_, it was called. I flicked through the playlist and put on another song. The Luckiest, by Ben Folds.

"What is this playlist, Ems?" I asked her, curious as to why she thought these songs were _all the good ones_.

"They are all the ones that remind me of us." She explained. "Mostly they are just songs that remind me of they way I feel about you, but some remind me of a specific time we shared, or how I felt about a particular moment."

"Will you explain some of them to me?" I asked.

"Well the ones you just played, Down by the Water and The Luckiest, are both just songs that describe how I feel about you." I smiled that the beautiful lyrics that we had listened to was how she felt about me.

"But then I have some stuff like The Fear by Lily Allen, because that was-"

"Because that was the song playing at Panda's birthday when we kissed." I finished for her.

Emily smiled, looking slightly surprised that I remembered.

"Yeah."

"Can you tell me about some more?"

Emily took the i-pod and flicked to another song. The Special Two – Missy Higgins.

"This one is about how I felt last year when we weren't talking. Even though we were fighting and hating each other, deep down I still loved you more than anything and knew that I could never love anyone like I love you. I said on that rooftop that we were special. And I meant it. We _are_ special. I felt like this song was written about us."

Emily flicked to Somewhere Only We Know by Keane. I had a feeling I knew what this one was about.

"This one reminds me of the lake." Emily said. I knew it.

"There's not really much to say about it. This song just reminds me of it."

We spent the rest of the journey going through Emily's music. Sometimes she explained the song to me. Sometimes I could figure it out for myself. Sometimes I didn't want it to be explained. I was happy just knowing that it meant something to Emily and that I didn't always need to understand why.

Before I knew it, we were pulling in to the station in London. I pulled the i-pod out of my ear and stood up.

"So, Ems, what's the plan?" I asked her.

"We get a taxi to the hotel, and then I take you around London." She said.

"A hotel?"

"Yep. We're staying here overnight. Hence the overnight bag. I have tickets back to Bristol for four o'clock tomorrow afternoon. And we have a lot to do between now and then, so lets go."

* * *

**The Drums are one of my favourite bands. If you don't know them, check them out. They're brilliant.**

**Hope that was good for you. The rest of the London trip will continue next chapter, which will hopefully be up sometime soon.**

**Review?**


	22. Chapter 22

**Cheers for reviews. Please keep them coming, I do love them.**

**Hope you enjoy this next chapter ;)**

* * *

**Chapter 22**

**Emily:**

"Oh my god, Emily, please tell me that this is where we are going to spending the rest of weekend!"

Naomi walked in to our hotel room, her mouth wide open as she took it all in.

"Sorry babe, got a whole day planned for us. But we will be back here tonight. And then we can spend most of tomorrow here if you want to."

"Sounds perfect."

Naomi took my handbag and the over night bag that were slung over my shoulders and put them on the ground near the door. She put her arms around my shoulders and joined her hands behind my neck, bringing our bodies close together.

"This is amazing, Emily." She said, and then kissed me lightly on the lips. "Are you sure we can afford this though?"

"Of course we can. We deserve to treat ourselves. And it's only one night anyway."

Naomi kissed me lightly on the lips again. "Have I ever told you how utterly incredible you are, Fitch?" she said.

"Hmm, once or twice, but it never hurts to hear it again." I said, smiling up at her.

She smiled back, leant down and kissed me tenderly on the lips. It was a beautiful, slow kiss that said more than words ever could. I felt Naomi's tongue slide against my lip and I opened my mouth, granting her access. Naomi pushed me back gently until I had my back up against the wall and she pressed her body gently up against mine. Her hands were in my hair, my fingers hooked through the belt loops on her jeans. We kissed passionately until we were both out of breath. When we broke apart Naomi rested her forehead against my shoulder and I tangled my hands in her hair.

"Wow." I whispered. "You should tell me how incredible I am more often."

Naomi pulled back, smiled at me and kissed me lightly again. "I love you so much, Emily." She said, looking deep in to my eyes. She said it with such honesty that I couldn't help but kiss her this time.

"I love you so much, too." I said, resting our foreheads together. "Never, ever forget how much."

Naomi shook her head, telling me that she wouldn't forget.

"Wanna explore the place?" I asked.

"Yes!" Naomi answered excitedly, taking my hand and leading me further in to the main room.

One entire wall of the enormous room was taken up with huge floor to ceiling glass doors that opened up on to a private balcony. The other side of the room had a couple of sofas pointed toward the giant plasma TV that was mounted on the wall.

We walked through a large door in to the bedroom.

"Wow." Naomi and I both said at the same time. The bedroom was quite large. There was a wardrobe on the side wall and a door that led to what I assumed must be the bathroom. The other wall had french doors that opened out on to the balcony. But the bed was what had grabbed our attention. It was a massive king-size four-poster bed. It rose up to about waist height. Well my waist height… Probably not Naomi's… and it had curtains tied to the posts that could be wrapped around the bed.

"You sure you don't want to spend the whole day in bed?" Naomi asked me.

It was tempting. Very tempting. But I also really wanted to make the most of being in London. "The sooner we go out and do all the stuff I have planned, the sooner we can come back and enjoy that bed." I told her.

"Then lets hurry up and go." She said, pushing me toward the door.

"Hold on, we haven't seen the bathroom yet." I said.

We walked through the door and in to the bathroom. It had a sink, a toilet and a shower, but the best part: The huge spa bath. It was easily big enough to fit both of us in it comfortably and water jets all around the side and a few on the bottom, with buttons to control the temperature and the pressure of the jets.

"We are definitely having a bath later." I told Naomi.

"Definitely." She agreed. "Lets go." Naomi said, taking my hand and leading me back through our apartment.

I took Naomi to all the places I knew she would love. My parents had brought me, Katie and James here for a week just before Katie and I started college, so I had done most of the stuff I took Naomi to do already.

I knew Naomi quite enjoyed Shakespeare, so we had a tour of the Globe Theatre, which we both loved. After that we checked out a few museums. Good thing Naomi and I can both be massive geeks. After that we got some lunch, did some shopping, and then took a tour of the Tower of London and visited Westminster Abbey, checking out various other tourist sights and parks that we came across while we were making our way to the next place.

By six O'clock we had done all the things I had planned for the day, plus some and were tired and hungry. We made our way back toward our hotel, stopping at a pub that we passed on the way for some dinner.

"Thank you for today, Emily." Naomi said as we ate our dinners. "I had a lot of fun."

"I'm glad. I had fun as well."

"We'll have to come back in a few months to find a flat to live in when we are at uni. And then we'll be living here. Strange to think that come September this will be our home, hey?"

"Yeah, strange." I agreed.

As we finished our dinner and made our way through a couple of drinks each, we chatted about our favourite parts of the day, what we wanted to do again, and what we would like to do next time we are here.

We walked back to the hotel hand in hand, not really talking, just enjoying being with each other. When we got back to the hotel Naomi started looking through her new purchases. She had bought some new jeans and a couple of new tops, as well as a bunch of shitty souvenirs from almost every place we had been to. I thought it was a waste of money but she was so excited about it that I didn't have the heart to tell her what a rip off they were.

"What sticker do you want, Emsy?" Naomi asked me.

"I can't believe you bought a fucking sheet of stickers, Naoms. What are you, eight?"

"Hey! They're cool! They're all shiny, look!" Naomi said, holding out the sheet of stickers that she bought from the museum for me to see.

"Yeah, that's great, Naomi. I gotta go pee." I told her, heading off to the bathroom.

"Good to know, babe." Naomi said, riffling through the rest of her bag of goodies.

I left the bathroom a minute later to find Naomi sitting on the bed, legs dangling off the edge, one leg crossed over the other. She was leaning back on her hands so that her tits were pushed out.

And she was wearing her pig shirt.

My eyes flicked from the sexy smirk she had spread across her face to her shirt; her flat stomach; her perfect breasts.

I knew she was watching me check her out but I couldn't bring myself to look away. There was something about that shirt that just made me want to pull it off her, just like I had at the lake that first time. I saw her fingers move to play with the hem of the shirt and she pulled it up just a tiny bit so I could just see an inch of her stomach and her hipbones, before she was once again hidden by her jeans.

I finally tore my eyes away from Naomi's shirt and looked back into her eyes. She was still wearing that sexy smile and I felt my feet stepping toward her automatically. When I reached the edge of the bed she sat up straight and opened her legs a bit for to stand between them. I placed my hands lightly on Naomi's neck and Naomi put her hands on my hips. We stayed like that for a few minutes, me standing, Naomi sitting, just looking at each other.

After a minute Naomi pulled me closer and rested her head against my stomach. She wrapped her arms around me and tickled her fingers lightly under my shirt at the back. I pulled Naomi's hair tie out of her hair so that her hair fell loosely around her shoulders. I twisted my fingers around the soft hairs at the base of Naomi's neck and smoothed out her wavy hair, getting rid of the tangles.

Naomi lifted up my shirt so that my stomach was exposed and began placing light kisses all over my belly.

"You are so perfect." I heard her breathe against me.

I put my hand under her chin and brought her face up to look at me. Her pupils were dilated so that there was only a small circle of blue around her large pupils. I bent over slightly so that our faces were close and we slowly moved closer until our lips met. My eyes closed as our lips brushed together lightly, hardly touching, over and over again. Naomi began working my t-shirt up and I lifted my arms over my head so that she could pull it off completely. She dropped my shirt to the floor and lifted her own arms. I pulled the hem of my favourite t-shirt and pulled it over Naomi's head, dropping the t-shirt to the floor on top of my own.

I bent down to kiss Naomi and moved my hands around her back as I did so. I undid her bra and pulled it over her shoulders and down her arms, throwing it on top of the rapidly growing pile of clothes.

I took a step back away from the bed and from Naomi and just looked at her for a minute. She really was perfect. From her flat stomach, her beautiful breasts, her perfectly toned arms, there wasn't a single thing I could fault her on. Actually there was one thing, and that's that she was still wearing her pants.

Naomi leant toward me and put her hands around my waist, resting them on my bum and gently pulling me closer to her. As I stepped toward her, she shuffled back a bit further on the bed so that I could climb on as well. I crawled on to the high bed and kissed Naomi, a bit harder this time than before, and I pushed her backwards so that she was lying on her back. I held my body above hers as we kissed. Naomi hands moved from where they were resting on my neck down to my back and she swiftly undid my bra. I knelt up and let my bra drop from my shoulders, exposing my breasts and already stiff nipples. Naomi threw my bra to the ground and pulled my body back down, so that my body was lying flush on top of hers. She wrapped her arms around my back and scratched lightly in long strokes from my shoulders, right the way down to where my jeans started.

I pulled my lips from hers and kissed down her jaw and neck, leaving a mark on her collarbone. Naomi continued scratching my back and ran her hands down lower than before, slipping her hands under the waistband of my jeans and grabbing my bum. I moved my mouth to her ear and bit softly on her earlobe, while moving one of my hands down to tease her breasts, tugging on a nipple gently.

Naomi let out a low groan, and bit down on my bare shoulder.

"Oh, you're so fucking sexy." I whispered in her ear, clearly turning her on even more than she already was.

Naomi rolled us over so that she was now straddling me, and it was her turn to brand my neck. She kissed down my chest and stomach, flicking her tongue around my belly button and placing quick kisses repeatedly along the bottom of my tummy as she undid my jeans. She lifted my bum off the bed and pulled my jeans down my legs, stopping when she get to my knees to pull off my shoes and socks. Once my pants were removed she lifted my leg to her mouth and kissed all the way from my foot, up my calf, along the inside of my thigh and over my knickers until I pulled her back up to me and pulled her in to a passionate kiss. Our tongues battled as we rolled around on the bed, both of us trying to stay on top.

I eventually managed to pin Naomi down and spent a few moments making love to her breasts before moving down to her pants and pulling them off. I kissed my way back up her legs, just as she had done to me minutes before. I then slid my hands under her bum and pulled her knickers down, throwing them to the floor. I collapsed on top of Naomi and started kissing her again. I felt Naomi hook her fingers on my knickers and start pulling them down my legs. When she couldn't reach any further I pulled back and took them off the rest of the way myself, before sliding back up Naomi's body and resting my head on her stomach for a moment while I caught my breath.

After a moment I kissed along the base of her stomach and moved my body down so that I was settled between her legs. I spread Naomi's legs wider and breathed in the scent of her hot sex. I saw her shudder as she felt my warm breath against her centre and she propped herself up on her elbows to see me. I grinned up at her and when I saw the want in her eyes I decided to give her what she needed.

I kissed around her pussy lips before flicking my tongue out and very softly licking a circle around her clit. I heard Naomi groan and her head fell back on to the bed. I continued like this for a moment, fingers tickling gently and tongue brushing softly, though not quite touching where I knew she so desperately wanted me.

I teased Naomi for a while until I knew she wouldn't be able to stand it much longer. When I knew both of us couldn't wait any longer, I finally dipped my tongue inside her.

"Jesus, Emily." Naomi gasped as her hips thrust involuntarily up in to my face. I smiled against her, pleased with the effect I was having on her and trailed my tongue up to flick over her clit, before licking down and dipping inside here again. Naomi's hips rotated constantly as I continued pleasuring her.

I slowly slipped two fingers deep inside her and curled them agonizingly slowly. It was taking all my self-control to take my time and not rush it, so I could only imagine how Naomi was feeling. Actually, I had a pretty good idea how she was feeling, due to the constant moaning, groaning, begging and swearing that was spilling out of her mouth.

I felt Naomi tug on my hair, pulling me up toward her. Without removing my fingers, I crawled up her body, kissing every inch of her soft porcelain skin as I went. When our lips finally met, Naomi suddenly rolled us over so that she was on top, causing my fingers to slip out of her.

"What are you doing?" I mumbled against her lips as she continued to passionately kiss me.

"I want you to go first." She said, licking lightly down my neck and biting down quite hard on my collarbone.

Naomi continued her unbearably slow trek down my body, kissing and licking every inch of me over and over again. She sucked on my nipples and licked over my breasts. She kissed down my stomach and licked little circles around my bellybutton. She rolled me over so that I was lying on my stomach and licked a line from the base of my neck, between my shoulder blades, over my lower back. She lifted my arms and kissed from hands to my shoulders. She kissed over my bum and the whole way down both legs and then back up.

Finally she allowed me to roll back over on to my back and she propped herself up above me, so that her breasts were just brushing lightly against mine. I pulled her lips down to mine and she gently lowered her body on top of me. The feel of our naked, sweaty bodies together felt so good. I felt closer than I have ever felt to Naomi. It was as if we had become one physical body. We moved in time with one another. We could anticipate each other's actions.

I wrapped my legs around Naomi's waist and held her as close as I possibly could to me. Naomi rested her forehead against mine and looked in to my eyes. I could feel her hot breath against my mouth, her heart beating rapidly against mine.

"I love you, Emily." She whispered to me. She said it so quietly, yet with so much passion and honesty, that I knew she had never uttered a true word.

I placed a soft, lingering kiss on her lips and once again looked deep in to her eyes.

"I love you, too." I said. "I need you. I need you now, Naomi."

Naomi smiled at me, placed a kiss on my forehead and crawled down my body to where I needed her. She wasted no time in settling herself between my legs and beginning her ministrations on my wet centre. She inserted three fingers inside me and moved them in an out, slowly at first but quickly picked up speed. She sucked on my clit, bringing me close to the edge faster then she ever has before. When she felt that I was getting close, she slowed her pumping hand and replaced her thrusts with curling her fingers inside me agonizingly slowly.

Slowly, she began to work me up again until I was feeling more pleasure than I ever could have imagined was possible. My body stiffened and I felt Naomi go to pull her fingers out, to prolong the pleasure even longer, but I needed her now.

"Fuck, Naoms, don't stop. Keep going." I gasped out.

Naomi thrust her fingers back inside me and pumped them in and out fast, curling them inside me as she did so. She sucked hard on my clit, her free hand reaching up to find mine and lacing our fingers together. I squeezed her hand hard as my climax built, before I was overcome with pure bliss, as my body shook and trembled. Naomi continued her sucking and thrusting, riding out wave after wave with me, bringing me in to whole new realms of pleasure.

Naomi eventually kissed her way back up my body, a huge grin on her face, knowing full well what she had done to me. And fuck, was she proud of herself. I pulled her face to mine and pulled her in to a hard, deep kiss, rolling us over as I did so. We kissed for a while, as my body calmed down slightly.

I started to move down Naomi's body, but stopped when I felt her hand on my neck, stopping me from moving down any further. I looked up in to her eyes to see what she wanted.

"Stay up here." She said, pulling me up again and kissing me. I reached down and placed a hand on Naomi's knee, spreading her legs apart so that I could rest between them. I rocked my body against hers, thrusting myself in to her centre. I could feel her wetness against me, as her breathing grew more rapid. Naomi tipped her head back, allowing me to kiss and suck her neck, not worrying about the fact that the marks I was leaving were in places that would be hard to cover up.

I slid my hand down between our bodies and slipped two fingers inside Naomi, still moving my hips up and down against hers. The movement of my hips pushed my fingers deeper inside Naomi and causing the base of my hand to bump against her clit. My hand was bumping against my own centre on every thrust, bringing myself close to another orgasm at the same time as Naomi.

Before long, Naomi was shuddering through a strong orgasm. The combination of my hand bumping against myself, and the sight of Naomi unraveling at my hands, caused me to orgasm again and we rode through our climaxes simultaneously, is if we were sharing the same orgasm.

My tired body collapsed on top of Naomi's and we held each other tight as we settled in to more comfortable sleeping positions. As we drifted off to sleep, Naomi whispered words of love constantly in my ear as she held me tight from behind, one hand brushing lightly over my tit, the other holding my own hand.

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**Was it good for you?**

**Sorry if there are mistakes... I'm a bit sick and very tired and couldn't be bothered going over it to check.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Here is chapter 23 for you lovely readers. Yes, I spent my Friday night at home writing Naomily. Coz I'm just that cool.**

**Chapter views haven't been too high lately, and reviews have been lacking... Are people still in to this? More than happy to keep writing if people are still interested, but if you're over this one, I'll just wrap it up and move on to the other Naomily fic I have been working on... Let me know your thoughts...**

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**Chapter 23**

**Naomi:**

I woke up before Emily for once and lay watching her for a while as the early morning sun shone through the large French doors of our bedroom. We were still in the same positions that we fell asleep in, me spooning Emily from behind. Our hands were clasped together in front of Emily's chest and one of my legs was hooked over her hips.

I could feel Emily's chest rising and falling against my hand with every breath she took. Her bright red hair was in my face and I took a deep breath, inhaling her lovely smell. I placed a kiss on the back of her neck and another on her cheek.

"Mm, Naoms." I heard Emily mumble as she turned her body to face mine. I worried momentarily that I had woken her up, but then relaxed when I realised that she was still fast asleep. She cuddled up against me, face buried against my chest, one arm wrapping around my waist, holding me tight to her.

I wrapped my arms around Emily's back, and stroked my fingers along her spine, unable to resist touching her. I played with her hair and placed soft kisses on her wherever I could reach without waking her up.

After a while my stomach let out a deep rumble and I decided to get up and order some room service for breakfast. I gently untangled myself from Emily's limbs and climbed off the bed, grabbing one of the complimentary robes that were hanging on the back of the bedroom door. I wrapped the fluffy robe around my naked self and left the room quietly, closing the bedroom door behind me. I located the hotel phone and ordered a shit load of breakfast, knowing that Emily would be starving when she woke up, as she always is. Deciding that when our breakfast arrived I would serve it to Emily in bed, I went out to the balcony and picked the best flower I could find from the flower box to put on her tray.

I heard a trolley rattling along the hallway outside and I dashed to the door before they could knock and wake Emily up. The room service delivery person gave me the food and informed me that the cost of the food would be added on to our bill when we left. I thanked the man and opened the dishes of food. There really was a lot of food. There were eggs, bacon, sausages, toast, tomatoes, mushrooms, pancakes with an assortment of toppings, and coffee and orange juice. Thank god Emily eats a lot.

I began dishing the food out on to two separate plates; one for Emily and one for me. I was just adding the sugar and milk to Emily's coffee, just the way she likes it, when I heard the bedroom door open quietly behind me and felt Emily's arms wrap around me from behind.

"You were supposed to still be asleep." I told her. "I was going to bring this to you in bed." I turned around in her arms and saw that she was wearing a robe the same as mine. I passed her the flower I had picked for her and a big smile spread across her face when she saw what I had done for her. She took a smell of the flower and stood on her tiptoes to kiss me.

"You're very sweet, Naoms." She said, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me in to a hug. "Sorry for waking up."

"Don't be sorry." I told her, "Now that you're up would you rather go back and eat in bed, or eat out on the balcony?"

Emily looked outside and saw that the sun was shining. "Lets eat outside. It looks like a nice day."

I took the trays of food and walked outside, Emily following behind me. I placed the food down on the little round table and pulled out a chair for Emily to sit on. The balcony ran along the entire length of our apartment and was completely sectioned off from all the other balconies so you couldn't see your neighbours, and was surprisingly quiet considering the busy traffic that I knew was filling the street below us.

I found myself staring at Emily as I ate my breakfast. Just watching the little things she did. The way her mouth moved as she chewed; the way her tongue flicked out after every couple of mouthfuls to moisten her lips; the way she pursed her lips every time she had a sip of coffee or juice; the way she held her knife and fork as she cut her food; the way her chest rose and fell with every breath she took, her robe tied loosely so that it only just covered her naked breasts; the way she brushed her fringe out of her eyes every time the wind blew it in her face; the way her eyes flicked up to mine and a small smile graced her lips every time she realised I was watching her and I would go back to my meal.

"I think your breakfast's probably going cold there, Naoms." She told me, nodding to my forkful of food that was halfway to my mouth. "Seriously, it's kind of creepy the way you stare so much."

"I'm not staring," I said, raising the now cold food on my fork to my mouth, "I'm admiring."

"Well you're lucky I don't mind you _admiring _then, because otherwise I would be extremely freaked out by you."

"You love it." I said, taking another bite of my breakfast.

"I love _you_." Emily said, taking a piece of bacon off my plate and eating it.

I smiled and put some of my food on Emily's empty plate, which she shoveled down immediately.

"So what do you want to do today?" Emily asked me when we had finished all our food.

"I'm not fussed. What time is our train home?"

"We need to be at the station at 4." Emily told me.

"Well do you want to just hang around here today? Make the most of the bath and giant telly?"

"That sounds perfect." Emily said, while I put our used dishes back on the room service cart by the door. "I'll go run the bath, you come join me when you're ready."

Emily untied her robe sexily, stepping backwards toward the bedroom, turning around so that her back was to me, just before her robe opened completely. I stared at her as she walked away, the robe slipping down and exposing her shoulders, before letting it slip lower so I could see her whole back. I swallowed hard as she let the robe drop to the floor just before she entered the bedroom, glancing over her shoulder and winking at me before disappearing in to the next room. I finished clearing our dishes quickly, found Emily's i-Pod, plugged it in to the stereo and pressed play on her 'all the good ones' playlist and turned the volume up loud enough that we would be able to hear it from the bathroom. I walked to the bathroom where I knew Emily would be waiting for me and opened the door, stepping inside to see Emily sitting naked on the edge of the bath while she waited for it to fill up with water.

Emily looked up and smiled at me when she heard the door open. I took a step toward her and when I got close enough for her to reach me, she pulled on the sash of my robe, undoing it. I let the white robe slip from my body and stood before Emily naked. I saw her eyes run over my naked form, pleased that after all this time I could still make her eyes go wide every time she saw me.

Emily stood up and pressed her naked body up against mine, pulling me in to a deep kiss. We stood kissing slowly until the bath was full and I climbed in, Emily climbing in after me and sitting between my legs. I wrapped my arms around Emily's torso and clasped our hands in front of her body. Emily leant back against me and rested her head on my shoulder, allowing me to kiss up her neck, before she turned her head to face me and we resumed our kissing.

We sat in the bath for a long time, just kissing, totally forgetting about all the special features of our bath. Eventually, without my noticing, Emily reached her hand out of the bath and pressed the button to turn the jets on.

I let out a little squeal and jumped slightly as one of the jets shot a stream of water right between my legs.

"Conveniently placed jet?" Emily asked, smiling at me, turning up the pressure slightly.

"Ssshit, yes." I gasped out as the pleasure began to take over my body.

Emily grinned and turned the pressure up to maximum.

"Oh my god." I mumbled, tipping my head back to rest it against the edge of the bath.

"Wow, that good huh?" Emily said, turning her body slightly so that she was facing me more. She began kissing and sucking on my neck and I turned my head to meet her lips.

As we kissed I felt Emily move her hand from where it rested on my shoulder, over my tit and stomach and slyly slip a finger inside me, angling her hand so that the jet stream still hit my clit. I gasped at the sensation and pulled out of the kiss, breathless.

"Jesus, Ems." I mumbled against Emily's neck as she began to pump her finger in and out slowly.

"Oh, fuck me." I exclaimed under my breath.

"I thought that was what I was doing." Emily said, turning around so that she was kneeling in front of me, her finger still moving in and out of me.

Emily leant forward so that her tits were right in front of my face, her arm resting on the edge of the bath behind me, holding herself up. I sucked on her nipples, right in front of my face, as the climax built inside me.

As I felt myself getting close, I released Emily's tits and wrapped my arms around her back, digging my nails in to her shoulders. Emily nibbled on my ear lobe as she added another finger and started curling them inside me.

"Fuck, Ems, that feel so good." I gasped out.

"I love you, Naomi." Emily whispered in my ear.

"Emily… shit… Ems, I'm gonna…."

"Come for me, Naomi." Emily whispered, "I love you."

With those words I came, hard and long, the constant pressure of the water drawing out my orgasm. Emily muttered words of love over and over in my ear as I pulled her body flush to mine and tangled my fingers in her wet hair. Emily gradually turned the water pressure down, bringing me down from my climax slowly.

"You are so beautiful, you know that?" Emily asked as I caught my breath.

"So are you." I answered, catching her lips in mine and kissing her passionately.

Emily settled back down again, her back against my front once again.

"I think we need to get a bath like this at home." I said, washing Emily's back and shoulders, then reaching around her to wash her front.

We stayed in the bath until the water went cold and we hopped out, dried off and put our robes on again.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" Emily asked, "The brochure I read down in the foyer yesterday said there's a list of movies we can see, you just call the front desk and they hook it up for you."

"Yeah, that sounds good. You pick a movie and call the front desk; I'm going to grab a bottle of champagne from the mini bar and some glasses."

Five minutes later we were cuddled up on the comfy sofa, a glass of champagne each, watching whatever movie it was that Emily had picked out. Personally I wasn't too interested in the movie; I was finding it more enjoyable to stare at the red head cuddled in to my side that to watch the TV, but Emily seemed to be enjoying the movie, so that was fine with me.

When the movie finished, I pulled on my jeans and a hoodie and dashed across the street to a small café and bought a couple of sandwiches for our lunch. We ate on the balcony again, enjoying the sunshine.

"There's a swimming pool on the roof. Do you want to go for a swim?" Emily asked me after lunch.

"Did you pack our bathers? Because a swim sounds good, but there's no way I'm swimming in the scud. The lake is one thing, but a hotel swimming pool is another…" I said.

"Yes, I brought our bathers. Do you really think I would expect you to skinny dip in a pool with other people around?"

"I know you, Fitch. That is exactly what you are hoping I will do." I joked.

"Keep dreaming, Campbell. Your bathers are in the overnight bag I packed, you go get changed, I'll clean up these dishes." Emily suggested.

I walked in to the bedroom and began searching through the overnight bag. I found Emily's bikini and put it on the bed for her and continued searching for mine. I pulled my blue bikini out of the bag, just as I heard Emily enter the room. I turned around to face her.

"Emily, why did you bring my blue bathers?" I asked her, holding up the bathers that I never wear.

"What's wrong with your blue bathers?" Emily asked innocently.

"Emily, these were my bathers about three years ago. They're too small for me now, you know that."

A cheeky smile spread across Emily's face and I realised that had been her plan all along.

"You have a one-track mind, Emily Fitch." I said, pulling off my jumper and jeans and changing in to my too-small bathers.

"Doesn't normally bother you." Emily retorted.

"It bothers me when everyone is going to be able to see my tits." I said.

"Don't worry, I won't be letting anyone stare at your tits." Emily said.

Once I was changed I turned around to face Emily, whose eyes went wide as she took in my scantily clad body.

"My eyes are up here, Ems." I teased when Emily's eyes failed to keep moving when she saw my tits.

Emily took a step toward me, still staring at my boobs and wrapped one arm around my back, pulling me close to her, the other hand pulling my bikini down at the front so that one of my boobs was exposed. Immediately her mouth attached to my nipple, sucking and biting softly.

"Jesus Ems, are you ever satisfied?"

"I can never have enough when it comes to you." Emily said, moving over to my other breast.

I let her suck my other nipple for a moment before taking a step away. "C'mon Hun, if we don't go for a swim now we will never get there."

Emily reluctantly let me cover myself up again and changed in to her own bathers. We put on our robes and grabbed a couple of towels and headed up to the rooftop pool.

I was quite impressed by the way they had set up the rooftop pool. It didn't really seem like we were on a roof. The ground was paved, with a patch of fake grass off to the side. There were reclining deck chairs all around the pool, and the pool was surprisingly big. There was a big circle part with large steps to get in and a long lap pool attached. One the other side of the circle pool was a spa, with just a tiled wall separating it from the main pool.

Emily and I were the only people up there, so we had the entire pool to ourselves. We dropped our towels on to one of the chairs and walked over to the edge of the building, looking over the edge to the busy London street far below us.

I turned around and jumped, pushing myself up so that I was sitting on the ledge.

"Naomi, get down!" Emily said, tugging on my hand straight away, trying to pull me down from the ledge.

"Chill Emily, I'm not going to fall." I said.

"You might, just hop down. You're scaring me." Emily begged.

I looked in her eyes and saw genuine fear. I hopped off the ledge straight away and pulled her in to my arms, hugging her.

"Sorry Ems. I wasn't going to fall though. I was being careful." I told her.

"I know, I just… I… Never mind." Emily stuttered, going to pull away from me.

"No, Emily, what were you going to say?" I asked, pulling her back to me.

Emily looked up at me, her eyes sad. "Nothing… it's just… building ledges like this bring back bad memories."

I hugged Emily tighter and kissed her on top of her head. I knew what she meant. Being close to the edge of the tall building made me remember her standing on the edge of the building after finding out about me and Sophia. It wasn't a happy memory.

"Can I ask you something, Emily?" I asked, the question that had been on my mind ever since the moment Emily found out about me and Sophia finally coming to the surface.

"Yeah, of course." Emily said.

"That time when you were standing on the ledge…" I felt Emily stiffen in my arms and I squeezed her tight again. "When you were up there, you said, 'I could be dead in a second'… Were you actually thinking about jumping, or were just trying to make me realise how fragile everything was."

Emily didn't say anything, just tightened the grip she had on me.

"Emily?" I urged her.

"A bit of both." Emily mumbled in to my chest.

"What do you mean?" I asked, placing my hand under her chin and turning her face to look at me.

"There was a lot of things going through my head in that moment, Naoms."

I waited for her to continue.

"When I read Sophia's diary and found out that you slept with her… I was so fucking angry with you."

I cringed at those words. We may have moved past all that shit with Sophia, but it clearly still haunted both of us.

"But even though I was angrier than I had ever been with you, part of me knew straight away that I would be able to forgive you for what you did. And I hated myself for being so weak and so incredibly in love with you that I couldn't just hate you... This is so hard to explain, Naoms, I'm not sure I'm really explaining it very well." Emily said.

"Just try." I said, needing to understand what was going though Emily's mind at that moment.

"Okay… Well like I said, I was thinking about a million things at once… So even though I knew I would be able to forgive you, another part of me was worried that maybe this was too big. Even if I could forgive you, we might not be able to move past it. We might never be the same. And I knew that if you and me weren't together, then I didn't even want to be alive. You are my everything, Naomi, you always have been. So yes, I was kind of thinking about jumping. I just didn't want to live in a world where you and me weren't together.

"But then I guess I came to my senses a bit, and realised that I was being stupid. So that was when I got down… And like you said earlier, I was partly just wanting you to realise how fragile everything was. I wanted you to understand what you had, what you had fucked up, and what you could potentially lose."

I stayed silent for a moment while I let everything that Emily had said sink in.

"Naomi, you have to understand, I was shocked. I was angry and hurting. I just wasn't thinking straight. I would never, ever kill myself. You need to know that."

"Do you promise?" I asked, "Promise you will never, ever do that to me, no matter what happens?"

"I promise. Seriously, Naoms, it was just 10 seconds where I lost my mind. And then I found it again and got down. I never would have done it. Yes, I thought about it, but I never _really_ considered it."

"Good," I said, "because I have never been more scared in my life than when you were standing on that ledge. My insides were screaming at you to get down, but I was so upset, and feeling so guilty and scared that I was just paralyzed. I couldn't find the words to tell you to get down, or to explain what had happened, or to beg you to stay. I wanted so much to just explain everything to you; to tell you how sorry and stupid I was-"

"I wouldn't have listened to you. I was too angry with you. Like I said, I had never been angrier with you than at that moment."

"That's another thing, Ems… You keep saying you _had_ never been angrier with me. Has there been a time when you were even angrier with me than then?"

"Well at that barbeque we had I was really angry at you. I don't know if I was _more _angry, but probably equally angry and disappointed with you."

I didn't say anything to that. I had kind of figured that Emily had been disappointed in me, but hearing her actually say it out loud hurt possibly even more than anything else she had just said.

"I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings, Naoms, but you say you need to know, and that's the truth. I was really fucking disappointed in you that day. When I came back to your house after being on the rooftop and I found that note saying that you would do anything… I went inside and gave you another chance. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done, walking back in to your house, but I was brave. I was brave for you, and all I wanted was for you to prove yourself to me; to prove that you were sorry; to prove that you still loved me. And instead, I spent months living next to you, but not with you. You said you would do anything, but you did nothing. And I know that I didn't ask you to do anything, but I was hoping that you would just be brave like I was and show some fucking initiative and win me back without me having to tell you what to do. I loved you, and I knew that you were still getting used to being in a relationship, but I was sick of telling you what to do all the time. I lived with you for months and I knew you were just trying to give me space and time to forgive you, but all I really wanted was for you to tell me that you loved me, or just take me and kiss me, or just talk to me about how your day was. I realise I didn't exactly make that easy for you, being a complete bitch to you most of the time, but I didn't know how to be with you. I just wanted to hate you and be angry with you, but I couldn't make myself stop loving you. So I just ended up being a bitch to you. I went out and got drunk and took drugs and flirted with girls in the hope that you would just tell me to stop and fight for me... But you didn't.

"And then you let my family stay with us and it partly made me angry at you for letting them move in with us when you knew I didn't get along with them, but part of me fell in love with you all over again. You hated my family and you knew that I didn't like them much then either, but you still took them in, just because they were my family.

"So then we had the barbeque and I wanted so much for you to prove yourself to me. But instead you sat in the corner smoking and doing nothing. So I kept testing you. I asked you for drugs and reminded you that you were the one that gave the drugs to Sophia, in the hope that you would tell me to pull it together and stop hurting us. But you didn't. So then I kissed that girl, who I didn't even like, and all I wanted was for you to pull me off her and kiss me and prove that you still loved me. But instead, you just stood there and told me to stop. So then I caused a scene by pushing you in to the pool and I got you upset, and you confessed to everyone that you sold Sophia the drugs and slept with her, but that was it. Inside I was begging you to just tell me that you loved me and that you fucked up, but you didn't. You just stood there and watched me make a fool of myself by shouting at my family and you let Katie slap me and you did nothing.

"And then you said my name and looked at me and I knew then from that one look that you loved me, but a look wasn't enough. I needed you to prove it to me. So I walked back in to the house, praying that you would follow me and hug me and comfort me and tell me that everything was going to be okay and that you loved me, but you didn't. You just let me go. And I spent hours in the spare room, just crying and waiting for you to come and talk to me, but you never came. And in the end it was Katie who comforted me and assured me that everything would be okay. And me and you went on for a few more months, growing further and further apart, neither of us doing anything to fix it. And it was killing me."

Emily and I both had tears streaming down our faces now.

"I'm sorry, Emily." I said, "I'm sorry that I didn't try harder. I'm sorry I left it so long before I told you everything. Like I said, I'm a fucking coward."

"Naomi, I didn't tell you that so you would appologise, or to make you feel guilty. You asked me to explain, so I did. I'm sorry if it hurt your feelings, or made you feel bad, but if I was going to tell you, I needed to tell you the truth. But that happened, it's forgotten now. It doesn't matter. Because even though it took you fucking ages, you did eventually tell me everything I needed to hear. And it was better than I could have imagined. We wasted most of last year being stupid, but we both grew so much from it. When we first got together we were just kids. It just felt like a teenage relationship, which is was, really. I mean I always loved you, but we were still young and immature and didn't really know how to be in a relationship. But after our time apart, it was like we were different people. We had grown up. We know how to be in a relationship now. Last year may have been shit, but looking back, if I could change it, I don't think I would. Because we are stronger now. We are better for it. We made it through last year, we can make it through anything." Emily said, looking up at me and wiping away my tears.

"I love you, and that's all that matters." She said. I nodded. "And now you tell me that you love me, too." She said.

I smiled. "I love you, Emily Fitch." I said, kissing her lightly on the lips. "More than anything."

Emily smiled at me and kissed me. "Good. Now that that is all settled, lets have a swim." She said, pulling off her robe and chucking it on the chair with our towels, taking a step toward the pool and diving straight in. I took off my robe, placed it next to hers and walked over to the steps, stepping slowly in to the water.

"C'mon you wimp, hurry up! The water's lovely." Emily called to me from where she was floating on her back in the middle of the pool.

"Are you kidding?" I said, "It's fucking freezing!"

"Well you'll get used to it quicker if you just jump straight in."

"I like to get in slowly." I told her, taking another step in so that the water went up to my knees, goosebumps quickly spreading all over my body.

"If you don't hurry up I'm just going to pull you in." Emily said, swimming slowly over to me.

"Don't you dare! If you come any closer I'm getting out." I warned her.

Emily stopped swimming and watched me take another step so that the water went up to mid-thigh. I stepped off the last step so that I was properly in the pool. The water was now about waist height.

"Good girl." Emily said, holding her arms out to me as if I were a little kid, "Now just a couple more steps."

"Fuck, Emily, it's so cold." I said, wrapping my arms around myself to try and warm myself up. "I think I'll just go in the spa."

"No fucking way. Come here right now, or I'll make you."

I raised an eyebrow at Emily, letting her know that she couldn't make me. Emily took a step toward me.

"Don't do it, Fitch." I said, pointing a finger at her.

Emily just grinned and took another step toward me. I took a small step backwards, getting ready to jump back up the steps if she got too close.

All of a sudden Emily dove at me. I scrambled for the steps, trying to get out before Emily could dunk me, but she was too quick. She wrapped her arms around my waist and pushed me down under the water. I came back up to the surface, coughing and spluttering.

"Wow, that's attractive." Emily laughed as I pushed the hair out of my face.

"I warned you not to do that, Emily." I said, taking a step toward her, planning on dunking her, the same way she had dunked me.

We dove for each other at the same time, and once again, Emily managed to shove me under the water. This time, however, she dove under herself and I felt her lips pressed up against mine. I opened my eyes under the clean water and placed my hand on her neck, kissing her back. We rose to the surface, still kissing and Emily pushed me back gently until my back was up against the edge of the pool. Emily placed her hands on the wall, either side of me and pressed her body up against mine. I wrapped my legs around her hips and held her close to me as we kissed.

After a few minutes of kissing, I slid my hands from where they rested on Emily's neck, down to her shoulders, and in one quick motion, unhooked my legs from around her waist and shoved down on her shoulders, pushing her under the water. I kicked away from the wall and quickly swam to the other side of the pool, out of Emily's reach. She came back up to the surface, hair in her face and coughing, much as I had done minutes before.

"I told you I would get you back." I called across the pool to her.

We continued playing like that for a while, swimming and floating around, kissing occasionally, before one of us would unexpectedly shove the other under.

"I think I'm going to go in the spa now." Emily said eventually, her teeth chattering, shivering from the cold.

"Now who's the wimp?" I teased.

"It's fucking freezing! Are you going to come in the spa?" Emily asked.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna swim laps for a bit" I said, moving across in to the lap pool.

"You're insane." Emily said, shaking her head at me and climbing in to the hot spa.

I began swimming laps up and down the pool, back and forth. I used to swim all the time when I was a kid, having swimming lessons when I was younger, and then just going to the local pool a few times a week just for fun. I swam for quite a while, going over all the different strokes.

"Where did you learn to swim so well?" I heard Emily call to me from the spa. I hadn't realised she had been watching me. I swam over to where the spa met the pool and propped my elbows up on the wall of the pool so I could talk to Emily.

"I had lessons when I was a kid. And then I used to just go swimming all the time, just for fun."

"I wish I could swim like that." Emily said, "I can float and do a shitty freestyle, but that's about it."

"I'll teach if you like." I offered. "It's not hard once you know the right technique."

"I'd like that." Emily said, leaning over the wall and kissing me lightly on the lips. "But in summer, when the water is actually warm."

I went back to swimming my laps. I swam for quite a long time, keeping an eye on the time to make sure we wouldn't miss our train home. I was jerked from my swim when I felt something hit me on the back. I stood up and looked around. An inflatable beach ball was floating a few feet away from me. I looked around to see where it came from. A young boy swam over to me as fast as he could.

"I'm so sorry." He said, looking a little bit scared that I would be annoyed at him. "We were playing volleyball and Hannah can never hit it straight." He said, pointing to the young boy and girl behind him, who were clearly his younger brother and sister.

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm younger than you _and_ it's two against one!" The girl named Hannah called back to us.

"It's fine. Here you go." I said, passing the ball back to him.

"Thanks. Do you wanna play with us?" The boy asked me.

I thought about it for a moment and looked over at the clock. We still had a while before we had to be leaving the hotel. I looked over at Emily who was watching us with a smile on her face. She gave me an encouraging little wink.

"Sure, why not." I said.

"Cool!" The boy said, leading me over to his siblings. "I'm Luke. That's Jordan and Hannah." He introduced.

I waved at Jordan and Hannah.

"What's your name?" Jordan asked me.

"Naomi." I answered, "How old are all you guys?"

"I'm eight." Luke said. "Jordan is seven and Hannah is five. How old are you?"

"18." I answered. The kids all stared at me; their mouths open slightly in shock. "What?" I asked, puzzled by their reaction.

"That's _old_." Hannah said.

I laughed. "It's not _that_ old." I said. I could hear Emily laughing quietly from the spa.

"It is pretty old." Jordan said, agreeing with his siblings.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I said lightheartedly. "What are the teams?"

"You can be with me!" Hannah said, taking my hand and pulling me toward her, into the shallower water.

"Okay. What are the rules?" I asked.

"You see that dark blue line on the bottom?" Luke asked me, pointing to a line of dark blue tiles that ran along the bottom of the pool.

"Yeah."

"You need to hit the ball over that line, otherwise it's the other teams point."

"And you should have to kneel down, otherwise it's unfair." Jordan added.

I looked down and saw that the water only rose up to mid thigh in this section.

"Fair enough." I said, kneeling down so that I was a similar height to the others.

* * *

**Emily:**

Watching Naomi play volleyball with the kids was possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. I could hear her chatting to them and asking them questions as they played.

"Where are you guys from?" I heard her ask.

"Australia."

"Ah, nice."

"Have you ever been there?" The boy called Luke asked.

"Nope. But I definitely want to go there someday." Naomi answered, looking over at me as she said it and smiling. I smiled back. Naomi knew that Australia was pretty high up on my list of places I wanted to see.

"Where do you live?" Jordan asked, calling Naomi's attention back to them.

"Bristol." She answered.

"Where is that?" Hannah asked her.

"Just a couple of hours from here" Naomi explained.

I watched Naomi play with the kids for a while longer. I never knew she was so good with kids. I hadn't seen her around kids very often. She seemed pretty freaked out when JJ and Lara brought Albert over that time, but that might have been because she was off her face on god knows what. And she's good with Paddy, and she gets along strangely well with James. But for some reason it came as a shock to me that she was so good with them. Once they had had enough of volleyball they had competitions to see who could float the longest. She always went easy and let the kids win. Then they had races across the pool and again, Naomi always swam a lot slower than I knew she could so that the kids would always beat her. She gave them shoulder rides and pulled them around the pool by their floaty rings. And she seemed to be having a great time. She looked so happy when she was playing with them.

A woman who had been lounging in one of the recliners stood up and walked to the edge of the pool.

"Kids, time to hop out now." She called to Luke, Jordan and Hannah. The usual string of complaints came from the other side of the pool, where Naomi was now teaching the boys how to dive in to the water properly and was helping Hannah to float on her back.

"C'mon, time to hop out. I'm getting out too." Naomi said, dragging the kids, who were now hanging off her arms to the side where their mother was waiting for them. The kids climbed out and their mother passed them all towels to dry themselves off. Naomi climbed out after them and joined me in the spa.

"Will you play with us again tomorrow?" Jordan asked Naomi.

"I can't, sorry. I'm going home later today." Naomi told them. All three kids started complaining and their mother shepherded them toward the lift to go back to their room, thanking Naomi for entertaining her children for so long.

Naomi slid closer to me and wrapped her arm around me. I rested my head on her shoulder.

"I never knew you were so good with kids, Naoms." I said.

Naomi just shrugged as if she didn't believe me.

"You are, you know. It was so cute watching you play with them. You looked like you were having as much fun as they were."

"I was." Naomi said with a laugh. "It was fun to just muck around like that. Not having any siblings meant that I didn't get to play with kids like that very often."

"Do you wish you had siblings?" I asked her.

"I used to. I always used to wish I had a brother or a sister. It was pretty lonely for me growing up. I used to wish I had someone that would always be around for me to play with. Not having any friend didn't really help much either."

"Do you still wish you had a sibling?" I asked.

"Sometimes. Sometimes I see how close you and Katie are and I wish I had someone like that; someone that would be there all the time, no matter what. But then I see how horrible you and Katie can be to each other and I'm glad I'm an only child. Anyway, now I have you, so I don't need anyone else." She said, placing a kiss on my cheek.

"We should get out." Naomi said a few minutes later. "We both look like prunes and we need to leave for the station in an hour."

We climbed out of the spa, wrapped our towels around and headed back to our room.

"I'm going to go have a quick shower." I said, heading toward the bedroom. "You can join me of you want."

Naomi looked torn.

"You don't have to, babe." I assured her.

"I might just sit for a bit. I'm fucking tired. Those kids really gave me a workout." Naomi said, walking out to the balcony and sitting on one of the chairs.

I went in to the bathroom and stepped in to the big shower, letting the hot water cascade over my body. I washed my hair to get the chlorine smell out and then got out and dried off. I walked in to the bedroom to find some clothes. I pulled some clean knickers and a bra out of the overnight bag and pulled on my jeans from yesterday. I was about to look for a clean shirt when I saw Naomi's pig shirt lying on the ground, where it got thrown last night. I picked it up and gave it a whiff. It smelt fine, so I pulled it over my head.

I walked out on to the balcony where Naomi was still sitting, her back to me.

"Shower's free, if you want one." I said to her.

She stood up and turned around, a smile spreading across her face when she saw me.

"That shirt looks good on you." She said, "A little big, but good."

She walked over to me and kissed me lightly on the lips. I stood on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around her neck, holding her close to me and deepening the kiss. We kissed for a moment before Naomi pulled away.

"I'm gonna get you all wet, Ems." She said.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "Well you're very confident, aren't you?" I said cheekily.

Naomi slapped me lightly on the arm. "That's not how I meant it." She said, laughing.

I pulled her back to me and kissed her again.

"Seriously, Em, your _clothes_ will get all wet." Naomi said, pulling away again, making sure she didn't make the same mistake twice.

"Ohh, _that's_ what you meant." I joked.

Naomi just threw me that smirk that she does and walked back in to the bedroom.

"I'm going to take a quick shower then." She said, dropping her towel to the floor and giving me a great view of her back, arse and legs in her tiny bikini. Oh how I would love to be that bikini at the moment.

While Naomi took her shower I re-packed our bag, struggling to fit everything in because of all Naomi's useless new purchases.

An hour and a half later we were on the train, making our way back to Bristol. Once again we were listening to my i-Pod, one earphone each, taking it in turns to pick a song that we liked.

"Thank you for this weekend." Naomi said to me, placing a soft kiss on my cheek.

"You're welcome." I said, turning my face toward hers to kiss her on the lips. "Did you have fun?"

Naomi nodded. "So much fun. Fucking tired now though. Gonna need to sleep for a week."

"Me too. I love Katie and Cook, but it was nice to get away from them for a while. Just to have some time to ourselves." I said.

"They probably liked it as well." Naomi said.

"Yeah, as long as Katie didn't spend all weekend with her head in the dunny. Cook's probably hating us for leaving him to take care of her all by himself."

"Ah well, Cook's the one that knocked her up, Cook can be the one to look after her." Naomi said.

"Do you want to call your Mum?" I asked Naomi, as we got closer to home. "She said if we call her and let her know what time, she will pick us up from the station and drive us home. Save us having to get a bus or taxi."

"That was nice of her." Naomi said, pulling out her phone and dialing Gina's number. I sat quietly while Naomi spoke to her mother.

"Hi Mum, it's me… Yeah, it was great… We'll be back in about half an hour, if you're still happy to pick us up… Okay, great… Thanks a lot… yeah, see you."

"She'll meet us in the car park." Naomi told me.

We chatted about whatever came to our minds for the rest of the ride home. That was something I loved about mine and Naomi's relationship. We could just talk shit, but to us it was just as meaningful as sharing our deepest emotions.

Finally, after a long but perfect weekend, the train pulled in to the station. We grabbed our bags and stepped out on to the platform, making our way to the car park where Gina would be waiting for us. Naomi spotted her mother's car and led us over to it. We climbed in and each gave Gina a hug and a kiss, telling her about our weekend as we drove through the streets of Bristol, back to our house.

I was just telling Gina about how cute Naomi had been playing in the pool with the kids, when we turned the corner on to our street and I froze mid sentence.

"What's going on?" Naomi asked.

"I have no idea."

"Have you talked to Cook or Katie at all this weekend, Mum?"

"No, haven't talk to either of them since we had dinner at your place the other night."

Gina parked the car on the street and I dashed across the road, just in time to see Cook climbing in to the back of the ambulance and taking Katie's hand, who was lying completely still, strapped to the gurney.

"Cook, what the fuck's going on?" I asked him.

"Can't explain now. I'll call you as soon as I can!" I heard Cook call back to me, just as the paramedics slammed the doors closed and the ambulance set off down the street, siren blaring.

I turned to Naomi, fear clearly written all over my face. She took a few quick steps over to me and pulled me in to a hug, holding me close to her. "It's okay," She whispered in my ear. "Everything will be okay."

* * *

**Hope that chapter was okay for you. It was pretty hard for me to write, and I'm not 100% happy with it, but hopefully you found it okay. **

**Sorry if you got bored, I know it was fucking long.**

**Big thank you to SBS, who is finally showing season 4 and giving me another reason to watch the season again :)**

**Leave a review if you can - Happy to receive criticism too, it's the only way I'll be able to make this better for you.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Sorry it has taken so long for me to post this chapter! I have had weeks full of crazy uni, followed by weekends of the parents going away ( = party!), followed by more crazy weeks of uni, followed by weekends of birthdays ( = Even more partying = very tired and very bad headaches.)**

**I'm really not very happy with this chapter. I wrote a whole lot more but then couldn't figure out how to finish it, so I decided to just stop it at this. So sorry if this chapter ends in a weird place. I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can.**

**As always, cheers for reviews/favourites/subscriptions, etc. I do enjoy them :)**

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**Chapter 24:**

**Emily:**

"Ems, come inside." I heard Naomi say. I could feel her gently guiding me toward the house, but my feet didn't seem to be working. My vision blurred as my eyes filled with tears that threatened to fall. Naomi guided me up the garden path and I heard her tell me to sit down. I sat down on the hard surface, realising we were on the front step.

A tear dribbled down my cheek and within a second, Naomi had wiped it away and pulled me close. I snuggled in to Naomi's chest as she rubbed my back and smoothed my hair, comforting me in the way that only she can.

"It's okay, Ems. Be brave, everything will be fine." She whispered over and over in my ear as I struggled to hold back my tears. I didn't want to let myself cry. Crying at the moment would just make everything seem worse. Naomi was right. I needed to be brave. Seeing my twin sister lying unconscious in the back of an ambulance was fucking scary and I immediately assumed the worst. I wasn't really sure what the worst was… I didn't really want to think about that, but the way Cook had acted, and the fact that Cook had even needed to call an ambulance made me know it must have been something pretty fucking bad.

Gina came outside and pressed a cup of tea in my hand, which I gratefully took a sip of, the warm liquid trying its hardest to calm me down. There was something about Gina's cups of tea that always worked wonders for me. In the summer after Naomi and I first got together, I spent almost every day at Naomi's house. Whenever Naomi was being a tit and I was upset I would go down to the kitchen and Gina would make me a cup of tea and we would just chat about whatever and it always made me feel better. Knowing Gina, she probably slipped something in to it. I don't care; it always worked.

Naomi and I sat on the front step drinking our tea, Naomi's arm still wrapped tightly around my shoulder.

"It'll be okay, you know." Naomi said.

I didn't say anything, just took another sip of tea.

"It will, Emily. If there was anything to worry about Cook would have told us to get to the hospital."

"If there's anything to worry about? Naomi, I just saw my twin sister, strapped to a gurney, unconscious. If that's not something to worry about, then I don't know what the fuck is." I said angrily.

Naomi just rubbed my back calmly.

"I didn't mean that there's _nothing_ to worry about. I just meant that if it was something really serious, Cook would have told us."

"Naomi, how is this not really serious?" I said, standing to my feet and facing Naomi. "She's my fucking _twin_ _sister_. My _pregnant_ twin sister, who just got driven off to hospital. Don't act like I'm being stupid or over-reacting. You can't even imagine how horrible it is to see someone you care about so much like that."

"Emily, calm do-"

"No, don't fucking tell me to calm down! You don't get it, do you? You have no idea what it feels like to see her like that. She's my sister; she's part of me. Don't pretend like you know how I feel because you don't. You just fucking don't." I said, tears beginning to run down my cheeks.

Naomi was on her feet in a second. She placed her cup of tea on the step, took my tea from my hand, put it down next to hers, and pulled me in to a tight hug. I gripped on to her jacket, my face hidden against her neck. We stood like that for a few minutes, until the tears stopped and I released my grip on Naomi's jacket and just hugged her back.

"I'm sorry, Emily." She whispered in my ear. "I didn't mean to upset you. I know it was horrible to see her like that. It was horrible for me, so I can't even imagine how it felt for you. I'm not pretending to know what it feels like. I just… I'm not very good at this… Comforting people... I never know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything. I just need you to hold me, and comfort me. You can tell me that everything's going to be okay, but don't tell me not to worry because I can't just not worry." I said, my voice huskier than normal from crying.

Naomi kissed me hard on my forehead and smoothed my hair. "Everything will be okay." She said quietly, doing exactly what I had told her to do. I hugged her tighter. My girlfriend really was fucking amazing.

"I'm sorry too, Naoms." I said. "I didn't mean to get angry at you. I just… I'm worried and scared and I don't know what to do. So I just got angry and took it out on you. You didn't deserve it. I just hate seeing Katie like that and I wish there's was something I could do. I'm her sister, I should have been here, helping her and looking after her."

"Emily, it's not up to you to look after her all the time. She's a big girl. And Cook was here to look after her. We had a great weekend away, she wouldn't have wanted you to miss that, just to stay home and look after her."

I knew Naomi was right. There's nothing I could have done that Cook wouldn't have done, but it didn't stop me from wishing I could do more.

"C'mon." Naomi said, leading me toward the front door. "They should be at the hospital by now, lets call and see if we can find anything out."

We walked in to the house and in to the kitchen, just as Gina was hanging up the phone.

"I just called the hospital." She said, "The ambulance has arrived, but they couldn't really tell me anything else. The nurse said that she has no information to give me, and that even if she did know anything, she wouldn't be able to tell me because I'm not a member of her immediate family."

I nodded and took a seat at the kitchen table. Naomi stood behind me and massaged my shoulders, helping me to relax.

"Do you want me to call your Mum or Dad, Ems? Let them know what's going on?" Naomi asked me.

I reached my hand up and placed it on top of her hand, which was resting on my shoulder. I tugged on her arm and pulled it down, so that she leant forward and wrapped her arms around me from the back.

"Thanks Naoms, but that's okay. There's no point in making them worry when we don't even know what's going on. I'll talk to them later when I've talked to Cook."

"Good point." Naomi said, resting her chin on the top of my head.

"Why don't we go and sit in the lounge?" Gina suggested. "It could still be a while before Cook calls, we might as well be comfortable."

Naomi stood up straight, took my hand and led me in to the lounge room. She sat down on the sofa and I took my place next to her. Naomi took my hand and held it between both of hers.

"Are you okay?" She asked me quietly.

I just shrugged. I wasn't really okay. I was worried and scared and felt physically sick from seeing Katie like that, but at the same time I felt numb. Like I wasn't really feeling anything at all.

"Will you _be_ okay?" Naomi asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Naomi rested her forehead against the side of my head so that her mouth was near my ear.

"Anything I can do to help?" She whispered.

"Can you just hold me?" I whispered back, my voice so quiet I'm surprised she even heard what I said.

Naomi wrapped her arms around me and pulled me toward her so that I was sitting on her lap. I snuggled up to her like a child, my face hidden against her neck, my arms tucked in to my body. Naomi held me close and rocked me gently, placing the occasional kiss on my head, whispering that everything was going to be okay and that she loved me.

My body was shaking, but I wasn't crying. I knew Naomi didn't really understand what I was feeling. And I didn't know how to explain it to her. I had seen Katie sick before. I had seen her in hospital a few times. But this time it was different. Last time she went to hospital I was there with her. I was the one looking after her and I knew what was going on. This time I had no idea. I knew that I was probably over-reacting, but I couldn't calm myself down. As hard as I tried, I just couldn't make myself believe that everything was fine.

It was like the time Effy hit Katie over the head with a rock. And we looked for her in the woods but we couldn't find her, and in the end we just had to leave and hope that everything would be okay. I sat in the back seat of Effy's car on the way home, feeling more scared than I ever had been. Katie was lost somewhere in the woods and I had no idea what had happened to her. I didn't know if she was alone or with someone else; I didn't know if she was conscious or unconscious; I didn't know if she had been found and taken home by someone else; I didn't know if she was dead or alive. So I sat in the backseat of that car, unsuccessfully trying to make myself think of something other than Katie. Naomi was right next to me, but no one knew about us yet, so she couldn't even hug me or comfort me.

These two incidences were quite similar, I thought. At Gobblers End, I was too busy having fun with Naomi to notice that Katie had gone missing in the middle of the night. I was too wrapped up in Naomi to even think about the fact that my twin sister might be needing me.

And now I had spent a weekend away with Naomi, when I knew that Katie was sick and I knew that it would be hard on Cook to look after her all by himself. But I went away anyway. I spent a wonderful weekend with Naomi, ignoring everything else that was going on in my life and just focusing completely on her, and then was harshly jerked back to reality by the sight of my sister being taken away in an ambulance.

Once again she needed me.

Once again, I wasn't there for her.

"Try to stop thinking, babe." I heard Naomi whisper to me.

"I can't."

"Why don't you try to go to sleep?" Naomi suggested, "It's been a long weekend, we are both tired. I'm sure you will feel better after a bit of sleep."

She was probably right, I thought. And sitting here thinking about what a terrible sister I am wasn't really helping things.

"Will you stay with me?" I asked.

"Of course. I'm not going anywhere." Naomi said.

I moved off Naomi's lap and lied down on the sofa, resting my head on Naomi's leg. Naomi immediately began stroking my hair and I felt my body begin to relax.

"You're a good sister, you know." Naomi said to me.

I didn't say anything. I knew it wasn't true. I had been a shit sister. Ever since I came out at the love ball, and I told her I would never leave her, I had done nothing but leave her over and over again. The summer after that I pretty much ignored her and spent all my time at Naomi's house. I hardly ever went home. On the odd occasion that I did see her, we hardly spoke. I wasn't there for her when she found out she couldn't have kids. She needed me and I was too caught up in my own shit with Naomi to even notice. And instead of me comforting her during the roughest time in her life, she was the one comforting me and telling me that everything would be okay. I wasn't there to help her study for her A-levels; I wasn't there when Tim treated her horribly; and now I wasn't there when she was sick and hurting and in hospital.

"It's true, Emily." Naomi said, disrupting me from my thoughts, "I'm not just saying it. Katie is lucky to have someone like you looking after her."

I sat up straight on the sofa. "I need to go to the hospital." I said, "I'm not going to be able to go to sleep until I know what's going on. And I need to be there for Katie."

"Okay," Naomi said, standing up. "I'll ask Mum to drive us there. I don't think it's a good idea for you to be driving the scooter at the moment."

I agreed and we went off in search of Gina. We found her a minute later, doing our laundry for us.

"Mum, you don't need to do that, I'll do it later." Naomi told her.

"Nonsense love, I'm happy to help out." Gina said. "Would you like me to take you to the hospital now?"

"How did you know that's what we were going to ask?" Naomi asked her mother.

"Naomi love, I know you think you're all mysterious, but I've known you for 18 years and you're a lot more predictable than you like to think you are."

"Whatever." Naomi said, rolling her eyes. "So will you take us?"

"Of course. I'll just grab my keys and we'll be on the way."

When we got to the hospital we went to the front desk and I asked for information on Katie Fitch.

"Are you a member of her immediate family?" the nurse asked me.

"Yeah, I'm her sister." I replied.

"Right. Well Miss Fitch has been moved from emergency in to a room of her own. She's on level three, west wing. They will be able to tell you up there which room."

"Thank you." I said, grabbing Naomi's hand and pulling her to the lift. I pressed the button for level three.

"Ems, babe, you're kind of hurting my hand." Naomi said. I looked at our hands and realised I was squeezing Naomi's hand so hard her fingers were turning red.

"Oh shit, sorry." I said, loosening my grip.

"It's fine. Just relax Hun. Everything is going to be okay." Naomi said, kissing the back of my hand and pulling me in to a hug. We stood in the elevator hugging until it dinged and the doors opened. I couldn't believe how nervous I was. A minute a go I was in such a rush to see Katie, now I was too scared to leave the elevator. Naomi stepped out before me, expecting me to follow, but I just stood rooted to the spot. She turned around to look at me, just as the doors began to close. Naomi stuck her arm in front of the door, causing them to re-open.

"Ems, c'mon." She said, taking my hand and leading me gently from the lift. "It's okay, we'll go talk to a doctor and we'll see that everything is fine. The west wing is this way." Naomi said, nodding her head to a sign that pointed down a long corridor.

I followed Naomi down the hallway, once again squeezing her hand so hard that I knew it must be hurting her. She didn't say anything though. She just rubbed her thumb over the back of my hand and told me once again that everything would be okay.

We rounded a corner and we spotted Cook sitting in a hard plastic chair in the hallway.

"Cook, what's going on?" I asked, rushing over to him. Cook stood up and met us halfway, enveloping me in a big hug.

"I don't know, they won't tell me much. They said I need to be immediate family to find anything out. I said I'm the father of the baby, but they wouldn't listen to me. Just said that she wasn't allowed any visitors and that they would let me know when I could go in and see her." Cook said, his voice breaking toward the end.

"Cook, are you crying?" Naomi asked gently, rubbing his shoulder.

"No. I'm just…. My eyes are just sweating." Cook answered, clearly embarrassed at being seen crying.

I let out a little laugh at Cook's weak defense.

"Cook, you're allowed to cry, you know." Naomi told him.

"I know. But what's the point? It doesn't help anything, does it?" Cook said, wiping his eyes.

I led him back over to his seat and he sat down. Naomi took the seat next to him and pulled me on to her lap. She wrapped one of her arms around my waist, held my hand in front of my stomach and took Cook's hand with her free one.

"What happened Cook?"

* * *

**Cook:**

As I sat in the stiff hospital chair holding Naomi's hand, I thought back to how wonderfully our weekend had started out.

After dinner with Katie's family, Gina and Kieran the other night, we had dropped Paddy at home and then gone to visit Freds and Effy to tell them that Katie was pregnant. We stayed there for a few hours and Katie had fallen asleep on the sofa, so Freddie said we could stay the night. So we spent the night in Freddie's shed, and then went home the next morning. Katie had been a bit sick, but not as bad as she had been earlier in the week. We spent most of the day at home, just watching movies and hanging out. We had a nice dinner together, and then went to bed.

When we woke up the next morning, I made some breakfast and brought it up to Katie in bed. I then helped her throw up a few times, we watched a movie, went for a short walk, helped Katie throw up a few more times and then, once she had assured me that she was fine, I went out.

I walked about 10 minutes until I reached the red brick house and I knocked on the door. A man who looked to be in about his mid-thirties answered the door. He was wearing jeans and a grubby wife beater. His arms were covered in tattoos.

"Ahh, Cook. Come through this way." He said. I followed him through to the garage.

"You got the cash then?" He asked me.

I passed him an envelope. "Five grand, like we agreed." I said.

The man opened the envelope and counted the money.

"Great." The man said, passing me the keys and opening the door to my new car. "It's all yours. I replaced all the tyres and the battery like we agreed. Rego is valid for another month. All the forms and everything you need are in the glove box, I've already filled out the parts I need to. You have my number if you have any questions or in case there is anything we missed."

"Great, cheers mate." I said, shaking the man's hand.

"No worries, Cook. Good doing business with you." The man opened the roller door and I got in the car and started the engine. I backed out of the driveway and took off down the street, waving to the previous owner of my car as I left.

I couldn't wait to get home and show Katie my new purchase. It may seem kinda stupid and immature considering everything I have been through over the last year, but it truly was one of the most exciting and proudest moments of my life.

I finally owned my own car.

A '95 Subaru Liberty. White. Except for the front left panel that was brown… I knew everyone would tell me to get it painted so it matched the rest of the car, but I didn't want to. It adds character, I reckon. So it wasn't the fanciest looking car, but it had a good engine. And the guy that sold it to me was a mate of one of the guys I work with, so he cut me a pretty good deal.

And most importantly, I had bought it with just the money I had saved up since I had started working. For once in my life I actually bought something worth more than £20 that wasn't weed. I hadn't stolen it; I hadn't borrowed the money from someone else. It was a completely honest purchase, and it felt fucking good.

So I drove the car to the car wash and gave it a good cleaning. I scrubbed the entire car until it shined. Then I vacuumed the inside and wiped the windows. I bought a new set of cheap hubcaps and put them on, since there were only two already on the car and they were cracked and scratched.

Finally I was ready to go home and show Katie my proud new purchase. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of those guys that cares about nothing but his car. I didn't really give a shit about cars normally. I had no idea how they worked. I don't even know how to change a tyre. But I was still proud of my car.

So I headed off home, stopping by the florist on the way to buy a nice bouquet for Katie. If someone had asked me a few months earlier, I would have said I would never buy a girl flowers. I wouldn't have bought a girl anything other than a few drinks to get her in to bed, and then sometimes breakfast if she had stayed in my bed longer than I really wanted her to.

But I fucking love buying things for Katie. I love seeing her face when I get her flowers, or when she opens a present from me. I love that such a simple gesture can make her smile that beautiful smile. That buying her the simplest thing can make her kiss me like I am the most thoughtful guy that ever lived.

After browsing the shop for a few minutes, I settled on a nice bunch of red roses. You can never go wrong with roses, I figured.

I paid the shop owner and placed the roses on the passenger seat of the car, careful not to crush them.

Ten minutes later I was pulling the car up out the front of the house. I got out, grabbed the flowers and walked up the path to the house.

"Katie?" I called as I walked through the door. "Katie, I have a surprise!" I called up the stairs after poking my head in to the lounge room and kitchen and finding them both empty. I head a shuffle and I looked up to see Katie standing at the top of the stairs.

"Katie, come outside, I have something to show you." I said excitedly, before noticing that she didn't look very well. "You okay?" I asked, "Have you been sick again?"

"Yeah, a few times." Katie said.

"Sorry I wasn't home." I said. I held up the flowers. "I bought you flowers though. And if you feel well enough to come outside I have another surprise."

"Mmm? What kind of surprise?" Katie asked, taking a step down the stairs.

"One that I'm pretty sure you will like. Katie, are you okay?" I asked when she stopped after only coming down three steps.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just… I just…" Katie stuttered as her foot hovered above the next step, not quite able to make contact with the ground.

I placed the flowers down on the hall table when I saw her face pale even more than it already was. I took a step toward the staircase.

"I show you the surprise later, Hun. When you're feeling better. Let's just get you back to bed for now."

"No, I want to see it… I want to see- I want-" Katie eyes suddenly went out of focus and I bolted up the stairs. I heard a loud crack as her head connected with the banister and I caught her limp body before she tumbled any further down the stairs.

"Fuck, Katie, are you okay?" I asked. I didn't get an answer, just a little groan as Katie's eyelids fluttered shut.

"Katie?" I asked. "Katie, can you hear me?" I didn't get an answer. I made sure I had a good grip on her and that her head was supported and I carried her down the stairs. I gently placed her on her the ground and knelt down next to her.

"Katie, can you hear me?" I asked her again, shaking her gently. Again, I got no answer. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and called 999 and asked for an ambulance.

"What is the number you are calling from?" The operator asked me.

What the fuck, is that really the most important detail at the moment? I put aside my opinions and calmly gave them my mobile number.

"And what is the address you need the ambulance sent to?" They asked.

I gave them our address.

"Can you describe the problem to me, please?" The operator asked.

"My girlfriend is pregnant," I said, trying to stay calm. "She was standing on the steps and she just passed out or something. She hit her head, but I caught her before she fell down the whole way. She's not conscious."

"Okay, there is an ambulance on the way. What is your girlfriends name?"

"Katie Fitch."

"And how old is Katie?"

"18"

"Great. Now can you tell me if she's breathing?"

I put my hand in front of her mouth and felt her hot breath on my palm.

"Yeah, she's breathing, but she's not conscious." I said.

The emergency operator asked me a few more questions and gave me some instructions of what to do. After a few minutes she said that the ambulance should be there any moment and said that it was okay to hang up.

I slipped my phone back in to my pocket and brushed the hair out of Katie's eyes. I kissed her on the forehead and held both of her hands in mine.

"It's okay, Katie. It's going to be okay. And ambulance will be here in just a minute and everything will be fine." I said to her. I didn't know if she could hear me, but I needed to say it, if not for her, then to convince myself that everything would be okay.

I heard a siren in the distance and knew the ambulance must be just around the corner. I stepped away from Katie for a second to open the front door. I saw the ambulance pull up out the front and the paramedics jumped out. One of them went to the back of the ambulance to get some things and the other walked up the path and in to the house.

He knelt down next to me, and I moved over slightly so he could see Katie better.

"You the lad that made the call?" he asked me, ridiculously calmly.

"Yeah, that's me." I answered.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"James."

"Can you tell me what happened, James?" he asked, placing a couple of fingers on Katie's neck, presumably checking her pulse.

"I got home and called for Katie to come downstairs. She's pregnant, and she hasn't been very well. I noticed that she didn't look very well and she said she had thrown up a few times while I had been out. She started to come down the stairs and all of a sudden she went really pale and her eyes kinda went out of focus or something. I rushed up the stairs to catch her before she fell, but she hit her head on the banister."

"How long has she been unconscious?"

"Well since she hit her head, so I guess about eight or nine minutes maybe?"

"And you say she's pregnant?" He asked me, as the other paramedic came inside and began to take her blood pressure. I nodded yes. "How far along is she?"

"We don't know _exactly_ but around seven or eight weeks."

The paramedics continued their work. I didn't really know what they were doing, as long as they were helping Katie it was okay. They asked me questions occasionally. How old she was; whether passing out was normal for her; that sort of thing.

Finally Katie woke up. The paramedics asked her some questions as they strapped her to the gurney.

They asked her what her name was and she said Katie, but she wasn't able to answer when they asked if she knew what had happened.

The ambos began to wheel her out to the ambulance and I saw her look at me, a scared look in her eyes, before her eyes flickered closed again.

"Try and stay awake, Katie." One of the paramedics said to her. They put her in the ambulance, asking her questions and telling her to stay awake. I climbed in after her and sat down, taking Katie's hand.

"Cook, what the fuck's going on?" I heard someone say. I looked up to see Emily rushing over to the ambulance, Naomi and Gina right behind her.

"Can't explain now. I call you as soon as I can!" I called to her, as the paramedics began closing the doors.

Katie's eyes stayed closed the whole way to the hospital. She would occasionally let out a little groan, but she didn't say any actual words.

When we got to the hospital, the paramedics took her out of the ambulance and wheeled her through the doors to the hospital. They explained to the hospital staff a bunch of stuff I didn't understand and a couple of nurses wheeled her away. They took her off the gurney and put her in a normal bed. They closed a curtain around her and a doctor checked over her. I had no idea what he was doing; I just trusted that they knew what they were doing.

I stood in the corner of the curtained cubicle while doctors and nurses bustled around doing all kinds of stuff. Taking her blood pressure, her temperature, and a blood test, checking her pulse, looking in her eyes, asking her questions that went unanswered.

After ten or so minutes the doctors and nurses left the cubicle, leaving me sitting on a hard chair in the corner. I dragged the chair over to the bed and took Katie's limp hand in mine, being careful not to bump the tubes that were now connected to her arm via a needle. I placed a few lingering kisses on the back of her hand, silently praying that she would be okay.

A few minutes later a nurse and a doctor came back in.

"James, right?" The doctor checked with me.

"Yeah."

"James, it looks like Katie has a fairly severe concussion. Since she's having trouble staying awake and answering our questions, it's hard to gauge just how severe it is, so we are going to need to keep her in for a few days to monitor her. We are going to put her in an induced coma to make sure her brain can heal properly." The doctor explained to me.

"A coma? How long for?" I asked.

"Not long. She'll most likely be awake again later tonight. We just need to do everything we can to prevent any brain damage. We're going to move Katie up to the third floor, she'll have her own room up there."

A couple of nurses wheeled Katie's bed out of the cubicle and in to the elevator. I was about to squeeze in after them when the nurse stopped me.

"Sorry, it's a bit full in here, it's probably best if you wait for the next lift." She told me.

"Oh right. Okay." I said, taking a step back. The doors closed and I pressed the button for the next lift.

When I finally arrived on level three I looked around but couldn't see Katie or her nurses anywhere. I walked over to as desk.

"Excuse me?" I asked an elderly nurse. She looked up from her computer.

"Yes dear, how can I help you?"

"I was just wondering if you could tell me where Kathryn Fitch was. A couple of nurses just brought her up here like a minute ago."

The nurse looked back to her computer and made a few clicks.

"Yes, Miss Fitch is in the west wing, room 317."

I was about to thank the nurse and walk off when she spoke again.

"I'm afraid there is a doctor in with her at the moment though, so you'll just need to wait outside till he is finished."

"Okay, thanks very much." I said, heading off to the west wing and searching for room 317.

I found it about halfway up the corridor. The door was closed and I found myself pacing the gray-carpeted floor outside Katie's door.

Finally a doctor and a nurse came out.

"What's happening, is Katie okay?" I asked, taking a step toward the doctor.

"I have put Katie in an induced coma. It shouldn't last for long, it's really just precautionary."

"Can I go in and see her?" I asked, taking a step toward Katie's room.

"I'm afraid not." The doctor said, placing a hand on my shoulder and stopping me from going any further.

"Why not?"

"One: you're not immediate family, two: she really shouldn't have any visitors at all at the moment."

"I'm the father of her baby, is that not enough?" I asked, getting annoyed now.

"I'm afraid that unless you are her legal partner, the only people I would even consider letting see her at the moment is her immediate family. If you like, I'll have a nurse give you a phone call you when Katie is allowed visitors."

"I'm not going anywhere." I said.

"That's your choice. Either way, you won't be allowed to see her for a few good hours. If you really wish to stay, there is a good cafeteria on the ground floor." The doctor said. I didn't like the way he was talking to me. It was like he thought I was just some stupid kid – like he was mocking me or something.

I held back the snide remarks I so desperately wanted to make and stepped over to the seat by the wall.

"I'll just wait here, thanks." I said. "Can you make sure someone keeps me updated?"

"Someone will be checking on Katie regularly, however as I said before, since you are neither her legal partner, nor a member of her immediate family, they really won't be able to tell you anything." The doctor told me.

The doctor and the nurse wandered off down the corridor, leaving me sitting by myself. Time seemed to pass by slower than ever. I kept looking at my watch, thinking that at least half an hour must have gone past, only to find that it had only been a few minutes. I paced the corridor; I sat, wobbling my knees, unable to keep them still; I read all the pamphlets on measles, the flu, various vaccinations, the importance of regular doctors check-ups for babies, the benefits of breastfeeding over bottle feeding and all kinds of other shit that made no sense to me; I sat again; I paced again; I counted the steps from one end of the corridor to the other. Anything to take my mind of the fact that the mother of my baby; the love of my life, was lying just a few metres away, in a coma, and I was unable to see her.

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**Review? You know you want to ;)**


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